Who Else
by AMS-Topaz
Summary: A year has passed since Frisk freed the monsters, and she suddenly finds herself wondering how many other mystical fairytale creatures are real and if they need saved. With the help of Doctor Alphys, Frisk sets out on a journey to find other creatures.
1. Chapter 1

AMS

I NEVER THOUGHT

Who knew I'd be living on the surface with the monsters I met underground? My parents always told me life was unpredictable and crazy, but I never knew what they meant. Til now. My name is Frisk Gomez. Toriel was nice, but I never considered her to be my mom. That's why it baffled me when she offered I stay with her once we left the underground.

"Yikes. See, I kind of have a family and a life to get back to. Who knows how long I've been underground, but it couldn't have been too long. So... see ya buddy," was what I said to her as I extended a friendly hand.

She had blinked back so many tears and even looked surprised I said that. But then she forced a smile and shook my hand.

"Yes, of course. See you around, ambassador."

I never thought I'd end up going to school with the monster kids though. As their ambassador, I've had to stick up for them many times when my peers tried to bully them and vice versa.

"Hey! Stop shoving my sister, meanie!"

I groaned as I dropped my bookbag against the wall in between classes and rushed over to the voice. It was Monster Kid and his sister.

"Why not? Both you freaks don't have arms to shove back, so this is easy and fun!" laughed the jerk who was pushing them.

Do my eyes deceive me? It's Mitch, the greatest football player in our school, and I have a major crush on him! Oh why does it have to be him? Can I still act like I didn't see anything and walk away? No, I can't. I promised the monsters I would protect them, and protect them I shall. Gritting my teeth, I rush in between Mitch and the monsters with no arms.

"That's enough," I say in a low tone, wishing I wasn't here already.

"Who do you think you are to stop me from having fun, huh?" asked Mitch in a condescending tone of voice.

"I am Frisk Gomez, their ambassador. A year ago, I fell down Mt. Ebott and freed the monsters from their prison. Their lives will be peaceful as long as I am here," I respond, pushing the nervous vomit down my throat.

Mitch and his friends laughed at my words and proceeded to push me.

"Frisk! You beat Undyne, so you can most definitely take this dude, yo!" Monster Kid shouted words of encouragement.

I feel the encouragement boost my determination, but it isn't enough. I need the courage to stand up to Mitch. Even as he punches me in the face, I cannot bring myself to do anything. Someone blows a whistle. It should have sounded sharp in my ears, but it sounds dull due to the beating I received from my crush. In my blurry vision, I see Undyne draw a spear and Sans back her up. Heh. He's gotten pretty tall since we left the underground, as Papyrus did as well.

"Get away from our ambassador now, punk!" growled Undyne.

Seeing the point of her spear glimmer, Mitch and his friends slunk off to the shadows. As soon as they left, Undyne immediately turned her attention to me and knelt down. Wow. This is surreal for sure. I've never seen her look so worried before.

"I'm fine," I slur.

"No, you're not, punk. Don't lie to me, cause I hate lies," teared up Undyne.

"You really shouldn't be so careless. Can you even save and load up here?" asked Sans.

"I don't know. Haven't needed to so far," I reply, still slurring.

"Well, we need to get you to the nurse asap," said Undyne matter of factly.

I feel safe as I feel her scaly arms, bulging with muscles scoop me up carefully. With Sans, Monster Kid and his sister walking beside us, we arrive at the nurse's office. I feel the warmth leave, meaning Undyne has already set me down on the cold, hard mattress in the nurse's office. I wish she would have continued to hold me.

"I'm cold," I whisper out hoarsely, shivering.

I feel some type of warmth again, but it isn't muscly, scaly arms. It's more sturdy, but still warm. Is the nurse holding me?

"Nurse?" I ask, trying to correct my vision.

"Heheh, nah kid. It's me, your old buddy, Sans," chuckled the skeleton.

The moment I heard his voice resonate through his ribs, my eyes widened. Sans has never held me before. The most we've touched is when he does the whoopie cushion in the hand trick. We've never hugged, never held hands, never fist bumped, never nothing ever. This is very different, and change scares me. I try to utter Undyne's name, but nothing was coming out of my mouth. Just strained sounds. A warm, sturdy hand pat my back in a rhythm, making me drowsy.

"How do I know you lot didn't do this to her and are trying to blame it on humans?" asked the nurse, raising an eyebrow.

"N-no. They're not lying. I swear it," I manage to slur out loud enough for the nurse to hear me.

"You sure? Lying is a serious offense," asked the nurse, crossing her arms.

"I guarantee it. I befriended the monsters and freed them from underground. I'm their ambassador, and was trying to stop them from hurting Monster Kid and his sister," I say, a bit more clearly than before.

Huffing through her nose and pinching the bridge of her nose, the nurse takes a moment to take it in.

"Alright, Frisk. I'll believe you since you have no record of lying about anything. You are our most trustworthy student out of the hundreds that attend this school," finally decided the nurse.

Feeling relief, I snuggle into the warmth that Sans gave me, and I passed out with a smile on my mouth. Moments later, I awoke with a cinnamon taste in my mouth, still in the nurse's office.

"Oh good, you're finally awake. We were all worried!"

As my eyes adjusted, I saw the bunny that ran the shop in Snowdin.

"Did you feed me a cinnamon bun? How did you make sure I didn't choke on it?" I ask, impressed with whatever they did.

"I made it into a milkshake and poured it gently down your throat. Smart, right?" giggled the bunny.

"Heh, yeah," I reply, smiling.

"In all my years, I never thought that the monsters were actually decent people and helping out fellow humans. Life sure is insane," chuckled the nurse.

"How old are you?" Undyne asked the nurse.

"Sixty seven and still rockin," said the nurse while wiggling her hips.

Undyne fought off the urge to roll her eyes, and instead forced a smile. Given she rarely smiles, but smiles genuinely at me, I could tell right away the smile was as fake as our school's history books on the war. If I had been there during the war, I would have stopped the humans from winning. I would have saved the monsters then if given the chance. Suddenly a strange thought occurred to me: since monsters are real, does that mean vampires, werewolves, and other fantasy creature real as well? Where are they at? Are they in their own special Hell? If so, where can I find them? I want to help them too. Whoa, weird. I never thought I would be having these thoughts at the age of sixteen.

As I study Frisk's bruised face, I find myself wondering what she's thinking of. Naturally, I find myself walking over and sitting down on her bed next to her.

"H-hey, Ambassador. What's going on up there?" I ask.

"Oh, hey Alphys. I was just thinking about if there are such things as other fairytale creatures. Nothing serious," she shrugged, laughing half heartedly.

"Oh Frisk, you're so compassionate. I want to help you in any way I can. Tell me what to do and I'll do it! I-if y-you want, ehehe," I respond passionately.

Suddenly Frisk looks up at me, her eyes wide with wonder.

"Really? You'll help me look for them?" she asked.

"Yes ma'am! You helped us out of the underground so why wouldn't I help you?" I chuckle, feeling embarrassed.

I feel like such a brown-noser right now, ehehehe. B-but I want to help our angel, so I've decided.

"Okay, Alphys. Then it's going to be a rough ride most likely. I don't even know if any of them exist, and if they do, whether they were truly innocent or not, or if my powers will work where they're at. We need to prepare for everything," said Frisk as she grabbed me by the shoulders.

"R-r-r-r-right!" I stutter.

Things were going to change soon. For the better or the worse, who could really know? All I knew was that I...no, we, were in for a ride.


	2. Chapter 2

AMS

THE FOREST OF UNIVERSES

A month and a half passed, and Alphys finally managed to create a universe tracker. Wiping the sweat from her brows, she gazed upon the radar favorably. Meanwhile, I had just walked out of Starbucks with two mocha frappe's for myself and Alphys.

"Darling! Wait up!" called Mettaton.

Turning to face the energetic robot who could now stay in his favorite form: EX form, I smiled and nodded at the famous star.

"What's up?" I asked as soon as he caught up with me, and we began walking towards Alphys' lab together.

"I heard what you and the doctor are up to. I have to know something though; are you able to save and load up here?" asked Mettaton with a clearly worried expression.

I shrugged as I took a sip of my coffee.

"You don't know? B-but darling, don't you think you should test it before you travel to unknown worlds?" asked Mettaton.

"It doesn't matter if I'm able to or not, Mettaton. Even if I am able to, who's to say it will or won't work in those other worlds? I've already prepared myself for most possibilities. If I die and can't load, there's already someone I chose to take over my job as ambassador. So, it's okay," I explained.

At the lab, Alphys fumbled around her desk until she found double A batteries for the device. Placing them inside the device, Alphys' claws shook as she pressed the power button. Her heartbeat was in her eardrums, thumping in rhythm to the music she played in the background. Once the device lit up, signaling it was now officially turned on and working, Alphys' breath caught in her throat as she felt choked up. For once, something she did worked as it should, and it was a feeling she never experienced before.

"Hey Alphys. They were out of salted caramel, so I just got you what I got. I hope that's…okay. Are you okay?" I asked once I noticed the frazzled looking state the doctor was in.

Mettaton was nervous as he had never seen Alphys look like this before, so he sat himself down on the plushy couch. I decided to join him as I wasn't sure what was next.

"I-I did it. I really did it. I finally did something useful!" squealed Alphys.

"Oh! You just feel accomplished then? That's wonderful Alphys, and I'm really glad we'll be able to start looking for others," I said with a bright smile.

Alphys then grabbed the other coffee and began chugging it down and yawned.

"Aren't coffees supposed to not make you yawn?" I asked.

"Well you see, darling, coffee has the opposite effect on the dear old doctor. Come, let us let her rest now," said Mettaton as he guided me outside of the lab.

Just then a yellow hand with claws reached through the door and yanked me back inside, leaving Mettaton by himself, wondering what he was doing with his life.

"I thought you were tired," I said with a question in my tone.

"I am, but here. To use this device, click the yellow button. It will start tracking universes. You already know what you're doing, but I urge you to take Undyne and Sans with you at least," yawned Alphys.

"But what if they get hurt and I can't save or load? I'm better off doing this by myself," I thought as I nodded to the tired doctor.

"Okay Alphys. Thank you," I said, smiling.

Nodding tiredly, Alphys slunk off to her bed to sleep for the next few days straight. After stepping outside, I pressed the yellow button. The device started making a tracking-like beeping sound, and suddenly, a yellow marker appeared on a digitized version of the area's map.

"A different universe is that close to me? What luck," I said as I began heading that way.

After a few minutes of walking, I made it to my destination.

"A creepy forest? I've never gone through here because of all the horror stories I heard about it. Guess I'll have to overcome my fears now," I thought as I swallowed down my fear.

"Kid. Where you going?" asked a familiar voice.

"Sans? Oh, I was just exploring while I wait for Alphys to get done with her nap," I lie.

I hate lying, but I don't want him to possibly get hurt.

"Really? Because she posted online earlier: just gave Frisk a universe tracking device. I'm so tired that I can't go with her, but she'll have Undyne and Sans by her side so no worries! That was twenty minutes ago, and I haven't heard from you. I came to make sure you didn't do anything you might regret," said Sans.

"I didn't say anything because I'm not planning on going anywhere yet. Like I said, I'm just having a bit of fun before things possibly go dark," I continue to lie.

Sans narrowed his eye sockets and studied my face fiercely. Eventually he sighed in defeat.

"Alright. Just don't leave without me and Undyne, okay?" softly asked Sans.

"I promise," I lie yet again.

Nodding, the skeleton walked off. I wait until I don't see his hoodie anymore, and I continue my way into the forest that houses so many dark tales. Maybe I should try saving. I think of what makes me feel determined… The spooky aura of the forest surrounds me, filling me with determination. When I opened my eyes, a save star was right in front of me. Sighing in relief, I save. But what happens if I can't load in different universes? Well then I die forever, and my brother takes over as ambassador. I continue my way into the dark forest, and trip over a root.

"Oww," I groan.

Standing back up, I notice these weird trees around me. Each one had a different door on the trunks. One of them stood out to me the most. It had four symbols on the door.

"Looks like air, water, earth, and fire symbols. I wonder what universe this could be. But if fire is one of the symbols, then something sinister must be happening in here, and I must save whoever needs saved. Alright, here I go," I say, pumping myself up as I twist the door knob and jump in.

San's POV

If I hadn't seen it, I would have never believed it. Frisk just jumped through a door in a tree! But what does it mean? Upon closer inspection, I accidentally fall through the door. My screams echo through the trunk as I fall, but is snuffed out from the door suddenly closing. Where am I going? Will I be able to find Frisk? Is she even okay? Will I be okay? I think of all these questions with no answers until I hit the ground in some strange city with vines everywhere.


	3. Chapter 3

AMS

THE ELEMENTAL WORLD

Screams ringing out, everyone turns toward the sound. No one sees who it is yet as the person screaming had landed on the ground. Cautiously, the people dressed in green and brown walk up.

"What nation is she from?"

"I'm not sure. She might be a nonbender."

"We need to take her to a healer right away!"

All of the people nodded to each other in agreement before picking up the strange girl who fell from the sky and carried her off to Avatar Korra.

"Avatar, this girl fell from the sky today! We're not sure if she's alive or not."

Korra and Asami looked up from their papers before Korra covered them up.

"Bring her over here. I'll take a look at her," ordered Korra.

Following the Avatar's orders, they set the small girl down on the couch and left. Korra grabbed water out of the air and began examining the girl's pulse and vitals.

"What's the verdict?" asked Asami.

"She's alive, but barely. I need to work on her immediately," replied Korra.

Working quickly, Korra did everything in her power to help the girl.

Frisk's POV:

All I can see is darkness. There is no light. Why did I find it necessary to try and find other people out there when I had barely survived Mt. Ebott? I had died too many times to count and had gotten lucky I was able to save, load, and reset. I feel something cold yet comforting. Kinda makes me feel unbalanced, but comforted. Looking around my special Hell, I notice a tiny, white dot off in the distance. What is that? I start to walk towards it, but my vision suddenly gets blurry as this whole world is torn from me, and I start to wake up.

"Korra, she's waking up!" called a feminine voice.

Korra? Who's Korra? I blink several times to get used to the blinding light in the room, and I let my eyes adjust.

"Hello there. You took quite a fall, but Avatar Korra healed you," smiled this lovely looking lady.

I suddenly feel nervous, and I try to understand what's going on.

"Took a fall? Well, I guess I did kinda fall into your world. I'm not from this universe," I reply.

"Oh? By universe, do you mean nation? What nation are you from?" asked the woman, not understanding me.

"None of the nations. I'm not from this world. I come from a world others call Undertale," I explain.

"Undertale? I'm not sure what that is," frowned the lady.

"It's hard to explain. Look, this is the device I used to find this forest with different gateways to different universes, like yours," I say, showing her the device Alphys made for me.

The lady takes it and examines it closely.

"Mind if I take a look at it closer?" asks the lady.

I nod.

"Anyway, my name's Asami Sato. I'll go get the Avatar to show you around and get you situated," smiled Asami.

"Uh, my name's Frisk Gomez. Thank you for your help," I reply.

"So, you're not a bender are you?" asked Asami.

"I don't even know what that means," I chuckle.

"Oh, right. A bender is someone who controls one of the four elements: water, earth, fire, or air. Only the Avatar can control all four elements," explained Asami.

"Still don't know what that means, but I guess I'll find out the longer I stay here," I shrug.

We hear footsteps approaching.

"And what do you plan to do while you stay in our city?" asked another beautiful woman dressed in dark blue.

"I plan to save anyone who needs saved, but in a pacifist manner," I reply.

"Oh really? I'm the sheriff around these parts, and I do my job as pacifist as I can. But sometimes, you get a bad egg that needs smashed. I'm Avatar Korra by the way. You said your name is Frisk Gomez?" responded Korra.

"So, you kill people and no one punishes you for it?" I ask, shaking her hand.

"I don't just kill random people. I kill people that have no desire to change their destructive ways. When people threaten the peace and balance of the world, I step in, do what I can to change their mind, and if they still try to fight me, I fight back. Simple as that. Yes, sometimes other bad eggs pop up to replace the one I destroyed, but they get the same thing in the end," explained Korra.

"Hold on, let me see if something works here," I say, thoughtful of how to help here.

Meeting a beautiful lady who helped me find my purpose in this world fills me with determination. A save point appears, making Korra and Asami jump back.

"What is that thing?" asked Asami.

"This is my save point. One of my powers. I have the power to save, load, and reset. With this power, I can help you turn the world for the better without resorting to killing anyone," I propose.

"Look. That's cool and all, but I've learned from Aang's mistakes. Because he let Ozai live, he nearly destroyed the Fire Nation all over again. When he let Yakone live, he escaped jail and had two sons who nearly destroyed me. Sometimes, keeping peace and balance requires death. Death is part of life after all. It's balance," explained Korra.

"I don't know what's going on here, but I'm here for the kid."

All of us turn to see a skeleton that I know very well.

"Sans? What are you doing here?" I ask, worried for his safety.

"A skeleton? And you know him, Frisk?" asked Asami.

"Yes. He followed me from our world. His name is Sans, and he is one of the monsters I befriended and saved. I promise he isn't dangerous," I reply, sweat pouring down my cheeks.

Korra looks at Sans, then at me. She then rubs her eyes and blinks, making sure she isn't seeing things.

"Asami, I haven't lost my mind have I?" she whispers to Asami who is still fiddling with my device.

"Don't think so, unless I am too," replied Asami.

I walk up to Sans, my curiosity getting the better of me.

"Where did you end up and how are you not...dust?" I ask.

"Well, I landed on a bunch of vines that broke my fall. That's not the point. Why did you lie about what you were doing? Alphys gave you instructions to follow, and you ignored her," responded Sans with a question of his own.

"I lied to protect you. I don't know what all is out here, but apparently the people here can manipulate elements. And this Avatar girl kills people and calls it justice. So obviously, this was a bad idea from the start," I whisper in the side of his skull.

"Then let's grab the device and leave if this was such a bad idea," Sans whispers back.

Frowning, I turn from Sans and walk towards Asami.

"I'm sorry but I'll be needing my device back so I can find my way back home. This world is very dangerous, and I'd rather be safe back home," I say.

"Sure. Just give me some time to figure out how to put it back together. This technology is so crazy! I don't know if I'll ever figure it out," blushed Asami.

"You took it apart?!" I shriek.

"You gave me permission to look at it. As someone who creates things, I thought I would look at how this is made and get some inspiration. But I don't really understand this at all. Sorry," apologized Asami.

"What are you going to do? I need to find my way back home," I ask, getting more and more heated.

Then I remember. I saved before I entered the forest. Reaching my file, I try to load my save point. Instead of waking up near the forest, I wake up on Korra's couch instead. That's fine. It was before I let her see my device.

"You okay, kid? Where you from?" asked Asami.

"I'm from..." I look around the room for clues of what to say. "A far off island called Undertale."

"Really? I've never heard of that island before," frowned Asami.

"Yeah, no one really hears of it except for those who live there," I respond.

"So how did you fall out of the sky?" asked Asami.

"I was riding in an airplane without holding on," I lie.

"I see. You're very lucky Korra was here to save your life," smiled Asami. "Need help getting back home?"

"No, I know how to get back home from here," I say.

After walking out of the building, I run into a skeleton.

"There you are, Frisk. Look, I think we should get out of here," said Sans.

"I know, I know already. I already had to load. Luckily, I still have the device Alphys made for me. So let's see here... the point of getting back home seems to be in a swamp area. Let's go," I say, surprising Sans.

"In order to get to the swamp, we'll have to go through all these other lands. It's going to be difficult for sure," huffed Sans.

"Difficult, but not impossible," I remind him.

We start on our journey back. Am I a coward for backing out this early? I don't know. Maybe I chewed off more than I could handle. I felt good being the monsters' ambassador, so I figured I could save anyone I met. But who am I supposed to save here? They have the Avatar protecting them, and killing others to achieve peace isn't a crime in this world. It's best we leave.

Korra's POV

That Frisk kid sure was acting weird when Asami asked her questions. Undertale island? It doesn't even exist, thanks to the atlas confirming that. I need to find out if she's friend or foe. Naturally, I stalk her. And what does she run into and start talking to like they've known each other for years? A skeleton! I don't know who, how, or why, but I'm going to get to the bottom of this.


	4. Chapter 4

AMS

THE BROODY FIRE MAN

The two of them just start walking, oblivious to the Avatar trailing them. Sans subtly looks behind him and turns back facing forward.

"So, she's here. Will she try to stop us from going home? I hope not. I could probably take her. Maybe not. This isn't good," thought Sans.

Frisk is completely oblivious to the stalker as she blindly follows the device. She follows it so blindly that she ends up bumping into someone.

"Hey! Watch where you're going," whined the man whose arm was in a sling.

"I'm so sorry! Please don't hurt us," begged Frisk, already regretting her life decisions.

"Hurt you? Kid, the Hundred Year War is long over. Do you really think a firebender of all people will hurt you in times of peace? Besides, I'm a police officer," frowned the man.

Feeling hopeful yet confused, Frisk looks up to see that the man is wearing a uniform with a badge. Indeed, it was a police uniform. Using his good arm, he helps her up.

"What's that device you got there? Where you trying to get to?" asked the officer.

"This is a digital map. I need to find the swamp, sir," said Frisk.

"The swamp? Does she know of Toph Beifong? Or maybe she's going there to mess with the vines," thought Korra, running over the list of possible dangers to prepare herself for.

The man looked at the device with great curiosity.

"You say this is a digital map?" asked the man.

"Er, yes sir," replied Frisk, growing uneasy.

Meanwhile, Sans was keeping an eyesocket out at their stalker without Korra knowing he knows they're being followed. The officer soon handed the device back to Frisk.

"Mind if I tag along? I've never seen you around before, and it's pretty suspicious that you're traveling with a skeleton," asked the man.

Knowing she doesn't really have a choice, she nods. He nods back, and radios the other officers.

"The name's Mako, by the way. My brother overheard my message, so he will be joining us as well," groaned Mako.

"Your brother? Is he also a police officer?" asked Frisk and Sans at the same time.

"Not quite. But he's helped me, along with the other members of Team Avatar, defeat many great threats to the world, so I begrudgingly welcome his help anytime," explained Mako.

A few moments later, a man clad in green and brown armor shows up.

"Hey bro! Thanks for waiting up," grinned the big man.

"Hey Bo. So, we're just escorting these two to the swamp. They say they're trying to get home and to do that, they have to go there. Seems kinda sketch, so yeah," explained Mako.

"Well, a walking skeleton is pretty suspicious," nodded Bolin.

"Sans is very friendly. He's my best friend," smiled Frisk, hoping that would ease any tension.

"That doesn't matter because we don't know if you're innocent or not, kid. Let's go," replied Mako, eyes narrowed.

The two men follow close behind Frisk and Sans as they continue on their way to the swamp.

"I need to get Bolin and Mako away from them in case something bad goes down. Not that I don't trust them, but I care about them," thought Korra, grimacing at the thought of them getting hurt somewhere down the line.

"So I've been the one watching over Kuvira in her cell, and she's starting to go really stir crazy. It's sad, but that's what you get when you try to take over Republic City by force. I try and sympathize with her, but in the end, I can't. She's hurt way too many people with little to no remorse after all," said Bolin to Mako.

"Uh huh. Yeah, that doesn't surprise me. How are you and Opal doing though?" asked Mako.

"Oh we're doing fantastic! I proposed to her last night, and she said 'not yet Bolin. Ask again a year later'. So maybe next year, she'll finally say yes!" excitedly said Bolin.

Frisk, being a romantic herself, couldn't help herself.

"She sounds like a strong woman. Is she strong?" asked Frisk.

"Oh yeah, the strongest airbender one will find! I feel like she will get her tattoos soon," gushed Bolin.

Frisk smiled.

"Then it's simple. Don't keep chasing after her, or else she'll tire easily. Strong girls want a challenge. Start getting busy with friends, and with your job. Don't let her know you've got all the time in the world for her. But show her you're willing to open your schedule for her. It sounds like she needs some space anyway. This time apart will be good for you two," advised Frisk.

"The suspicious kid has a point, Bo. It often looks like you're the clingy girlfriend in the relationship, and she's the strong man," chimed in Mako.

Blushing madly from embarrassment, Bolin bowed to Frisk.

"Thank you for doing what my older brother should have done," thanked Bolin.

"Oh whatever! Like you would even listen to me anyway," shouted Mako.

Bolin huffed and puffed out his chest in defiance.

"Only because you give awful advice anyway! Remember the Eska situation? Yeah. Not a fun time at all," shot back Bolin.

"Hey, I can't help it if you have such terrible taste in women back then. That wasn't my fault," shrugged Mako.

So this was our story now. A broody fire man and an eccentric green man who is more in touch with his feminine side. Sans keeps glancing behind us, but past the two bickering men. Is someone following us? Perhaps. I should find the time to save soon. Before it's too late…


	5. Chapter 5

AMS

CAN'T WE ALL JUST GET ALONG

With the broody Mako and eccentric Bolin tagging alongside Frisk and Sans (and the stalker Avatar Korra), the journey became all the more…interesting. Frisk had just wanted to explore other worlds and help others, but ended up wanting to leave due to the world's different set of rules. Sans only wanted to come make sure Frisk was okay, and now he also wants to leave this world as soon as possible. Mako just wants to do his job and make sure these two people aren't up to no good. Bolin just wants to…be Bolin. Then there's Korra whose goal lines up with Mako's pretty well.

"So, what exactly does it mean to bend the elements?" asked Frisk.

"You don't know what bending is?" asked Bolin who covered his mouth like a high school girl who heard juicy gossip.

"Bo, just look at them. You can clearly tell they're not from around here. They might be from that new nonbenders only continent," retorted Mako.

Bolin held his chin and studied them. He was still unsure how no one was questioning a walking/talking skeleton. The child definitely looked different from everyone else. For one, her eye color was hazel instead of just green or brown. Her skin color was another matter- it was yellow! Plus the clothing she was wearing was just out of the ordinary.

"Actually, we're not from this universe at all," boredly said Sans.

Frisk could tell Sans was getting tired of having to explain this fact to everyone they meet even though it should be blatantly obvious. "Does no one believe in the multiverse theory? These "benders" and "nonbenders" sure are a boring bunch for sure then," thought Sans. "Anyway, is anyone going to answer Frisk's question about bending? It sounds dumb in my opinion," yawned Sans.

"I guess instead of explaining it- because I'm really bad at explaining- I could just show you guys," shrugged Bolin.

Everyone stopped walking as Bolin got in a traditional earthbending stance, like Korra had taught him, and he hurled a boulder through the forest. Sans and Frisk were impressed. "So, what kind of bending was that?" asked Frisk. She had never seen anything like that in her life. Suddenly, she was very glad she fell in this world.

"I'm an earthbender, so that was earthbending. There are sub elements to every element too. For earth, there are quite a few which I can only do one of the sub elements: sand, metal, and lava. I've tried metalbending, but I just can't seem to do it. I can, however, lavabend. I would show you but it's extremely dangerous. I only use it for emergencies- like when the Red Lotus attacked us at that air temple, and when I fought against Ghazan for the final time," explained Bolin.

"What can you do?" Sans asked the broody man.

"I'm a firebender. I can also bend lighting, which is a sub element to fire," boredly explained Mako.

Frisk and Sans stared at Mako, expecting him to demonstrate. Mako sighed and shook his head only to realize his brother was also staring at him expectantly. Groaning, Mako made a small puff of fire come from his fist. "Can we go now? I don't like the woods," asked Mako.

"I remember Asami telling me only the Avatar can bend all four elements. Does that include the sub elements as well?" asked Frisk as they all began walking again.

"Well yeah. Korra became the first Avatar to bend metal. She just learned how to redirect lightning, and as the Avatar, she can also energybend. The best way to explain that one is: she can take away other people's bending, and she could also give them their bending back. But with our experience with this one guy who used bloodbending to block chi paths forever, Korra doesn't want to ever take away bending. The previous Avatar, who was a monk, took away corrupted people's bending rather than killing them," said Mako.

The last thing Mako said made Frisk think for a moment. Some Avatars don't kill to keep peace and balance in this world. "Maybe I should try to convince Korra to just take away bending instead of killing them. Would she listen? Maybe. Maybe not. But this world isn't Undertale. Unlike at home, there can be bad consequences to letting enemies live," thought Frisk. Sans could see she was concentrating hard on her thoughts. "Sans," she whispered, "I know I'm all about being a pacifist. But I did want to come here for one reason: to help others who need helped. So, considering that here, there can be bad consequences to letting enemies live even if you're nice to them, I'll help the Avatar bring further peace and balance to the world. Can we stay?"

Frisk's question took Sans aback. Perhaps she got hopeful due to what Mako said, or maybe she's really considering this because she's able to save and load here. Either way, it didn't sit well with Sans. He wanted to go home. He wanted to go to Grillby'z and relax with his friends. Frisk was trying to ruin all that for him, but he won't allow it. "No. We're leaving now," scowled Sans. He ripped a hole in the universe. He felt something inside him burn. Was this…determination? It must be, because his bones were starting to slowly melt away. He tried to grab Frisk, but instead, a water whip sent him flying. Looking over to her right, Frisk saw Korra running, her face contorted in a scowl. Frisk went running in front of Korra and held out her hands.

"Please don't hurt him!" pleaded Frisk, "Let me see what's wrong with him."

By this point, Mako had Sans by the front of his jacket, and Sans was struggling to get free. It really was a sight to see. What confused Frisk was the fact that no bones or gaster blasters were being summoned. Could it be that Sans cannot use his magic here? Maybe that was why instead of him using magic, he ended up using what was available to him here, in this universe: determination. It made sense to Frisk. Even though these people could bend the elements, it still does not count as magic, because it isn't magic. Frisk remembered what Mako said earlier: "He used bloodbending to block chi paths permanently." Chi. They used their energy within their bodies to manipulate the elements.

"Sans? Are you okay?" meekly asked Frisk, who was worried for her long time friend.

Sans just continued to grunt and thrash around. "Kid, I don't think he's okay. He's going behind bars for a while so we can figure out exactly what he is and what his deal is," said Mako. He took out his radio, and let his boss know what was going on. "Okay, let's head back to Republic City now." The group began walking back to the city, with Korra now feeling glad she tagged along, but sad for Frisk. What started to bother her more was the fact they had a skeleton who could rip holes in the universe. What will happen to her home? To the world itself? Will this skeleton be the downfall of everything Korra worked so hard for? Cracking her knuckles in thought, she decided she wouldn't let that happen.


	6. Chapter 6

AMS

GOOD COMPANY

After the group made it back to Republic City, Mako threw Sans in a cell. Frisk had a sinking feeling in her gut that it wouldn't be enough to hold back the angry skeleton. She didn't dare save yet for fear he would escape and kill her. "But if I don't save…maybe I should load? Or maybe I need to keep a low profile and see what happens…" pondered Frisk. She hated to admit it, but she was terrible when it came to making important decisions. If it wasn't for her power, she would have died a long time ago. She shook the thought away from her mind, and caught up with Korra. "So, is Sans going to be okay?" asked Frisk. Korra didn't open her eyes though. Feeling ignored, Frisk folded her arms and pouted. "Can you hear me?" Still no response from the Avatar. "I don't get it. She's just meditating! Unless she fell asleep somehow?" thought Frisk.

"She's meditating," gently said Asami. She placed a blanket around Korra's back and shoulders. Frisk could clearly see the Avatar was meditating but didn't understand what that had to do with being outright ignored and continued to pout. She watched Asami put a kettle on top of a stove. "Would you like some ginseng tea with honey? It's great for calming the nerves," offered Asami. She had to admit that she did feel a lot of stress since her best friend was freaking out and behind bars in a different world to their own. Frisk dropped her arms to her sides and nodded, sitting down next to Korra. Looking up at the Avatar, Frisk wondered what it would be like to control the elements.

"Asami, I know she's meditating and all, but why won't she answer me when I'm worried about my friend?" asked Frisk.

The raven haired goddess sashayed over, kneeling down carefully as to not spill the tea all over Frisk before sashaying over to the couch and sitting down, neatly folding one leg over the other. "Because she can't hear anyone when she enters the spirit world. She often goes there for advice from her old friend, Iroh. He's been very helpful since she can no longer talk to her past lives," explained Asami, sipping her tea. "You're really not from this world, are you?" gently asked Asami as it sank in some more. It was starting to get really bothersome for Frisk that this fact was taking so long to be accepted.

"I am not from this world. Sorry for sounding annoyed, but it's been a long day with people asking the same questions over and over," replied Frisk. Asami chuckled and nodded. "I must say though, you and Korra have been good company for me since everything happened. So, thanks for that," sheepishly thanked Frisk. It was then that Korra had opened her eyes and stretched. Frisk suddenly felt self conscious since she had tried to get her attention when she was busy talking with a dead man in the spirit world. "So," started Frisk but felt even more self conscious when Korra looked at her during mid stretch to give her her full attention.

"Yes?" Korra asked, waiting for Frisk to continue her thought.

"Even though I'm not from this world and neither is Sans, it seems that it affected his ability to use his magic. I was thinking, what if I'm able to bend in this world?" asked Frisk, feeling foolish for asking a thing like that. But Korra didn't laugh and neither did Asami. If anything, Korra just gently smiled.

"So, you want to see if you're a bender now simply because you're in our world?" asked Korra, making sure she got the full gist of what Frisk was saying. All Frisk did was nod while she buried her face in her lukewarm mug. The Avatar looked over at Asami with a raised eyebrow, but when Asami shrugged, Korra nodded, knowing her girlfriend had nothing to do with this weird thought process. "Kid, you might be a bender, but you might not. But look at my girlfriend here. She's from this world and can't bend, but that doesn't make her less than amazing. Same applies to you. Even if you can't bend, I'm sure Asami would love to teach you how to protect yourself if you're interested," offered Korra. Frisk looked up from her mug in excitement.

"So, you'll help me find out if I can bend or not?" asked Frisk excitedly. Korra stood up straight after touching her toes and firmly nodded. Frisk jumped up from the couch and did a cheer. "Alright! It's my birthday! It's my birthday! Woohoo!" Korra and Asami chuckled at Frisk's antics before Frisk fell down laughing herself. It looks like Frisk had some hard work ahead of her, but she decided it would be a good distraction while she figured out what to do about the Sans situation.

Back at the sheriff station, Mako was sitting at his desk, filing paperwork about a dangerous skeleton who was clawing at the walls in his cell. The sound of bone against platinum did not feel good to Mako's ears. "Sir, you need to stop that right now," commanded Mako. Sans stopped momentarily for Mako to sigh in relief and go back to his paperwork. Mako jumped when the sound started again, making ink spread across the important paper diagonally. "Argh! Why are you so evil?" angrily shouted Mako. He stood up to shred the ruined paper, and left to go to the printing room so he could get a new copy.

"I'm not evil…Just broken and lost…" whispered Sans in his lowly cell.


	7. Chapter 7

AMS

DON'T WANNA ADMIT I FELL

Not one day passes where Frisk doesn't remember meeting Flowey for the first time. She still has nightmares about his Omega form. She had wondered why King Asgore had suddenly been killed until Flowey showed himself. It was in that moment she pointed her knife at Flowey and prepared herself for a fight with him. "He's a flower who sends friendliness pellets. I can take him!" was what she had thought. The very moment he absorbed the six human souls was when Frisk realized it wouldn't be an easy fight after all. "Th-that's okay. I can still load if I have to," she thought to herself. Seeing red and black flashing, she suddenly sprang up in her bed in Asami's mansion. "NO!" she screamed. Fast footsteps were heard. The next thing that Frisk saw was her door being broken down with the Avatar in a fighting stance.

"I heard yelling. Are you okay?" asked Korra, still in her pajamas. Asami was close behind, wearing an Equalist glove. Frisk put her index and middle finger against her neck to feel her pulse. It was still a bit fast, but was calming down the more she stayed awake.

"I-I'm fine, thanks. Just had a nightmare," Frisk responded. Dropping her fists to her side, Korra walked in more and sat on the edge of Frisk's guest bed. Asami yawned and took a seat on the floor, suddenly shivering from the night air. Summer was nearly over, and the weather started to announce that fact every night. Studying Frisk, Korra noticed how she looked like she had some serious PTSD like she used to when she had gotten poisoned.

"You can talk to us. I'm not a mind reader, but I can tell you've been through a lot," softly said Korra. It's not that Frisk didn't want to open up, but rather, she was afraid to bring up the past and rethink about everything. What happened underground should stay underground. That's what she thought to herself anyway. Frisk just bit her bottom lip and shook her head, wrapping her arms around herself.

"No, I can't," squeaked Frisk.

Korra wanted to press the issue, but Asami gently held onto Korra's arm. She gave her a look that said "be patient". Inwardly groaning, Korra stood up and left the room. Frisk looked at her door that was still laying against the wall, cracked.

"I really should get some actual sleep. My lessons begin today," Frisk thought as a huge yawn forced its way out of her mouth. Laying back down on the hard bed, she closed her eyes and tried to fall back asleep. But when a cold gust of wind came through the window, she shuddered and quickly shut the window. When she had first gone to bed, it was still warm out so she had opened the window. Now it's too cold for that. A frown formed over her lips as she thought about winter approaching. Shortly after she shut her window, someone had turned the heat on, and it felt really comfortable. Yawning bigger and longer, Frisk shut her eyes contentedly, and the dreaming sequence began.

The snow crunched beneath her boots, the air smelled musty though. It was pitch black due to her being under the mountain. "Why did I have to fall under here? How did I even survive such a fall? I wanna go home," whined Frisk. Toriel had been nice enough to let her past the Ruins after constantly dying and finally sparing her enough times. "That stupid flower is a hindrance too," shuddered Frisk as more snow started to fall. Confused, she looked up and suddenly got very angry. "How?!" she shouted up at the ceiling. Shaking her head angrily, she pressed onwards. Crunch, crunch, crunch, crunch, snap! Whipping her head around, the insanely large tree branch was now shattered in pieces. Sweat formed at her temples and she suddenly felt very warm in her head while the rest of her shivered in the cold. Staying determined, but cautious, she kept walking. When she came to a bridge, the sound of someone crunching in the snow sounded like sirens in her ears, and she froze from both fear and the frigid winter air.

The sun shone through the window, making Frisk feel ten times more hot than she was with the heat on last night. Even though Summer was almost over didn't mean they didn't experience hot mornings and days. The trio sat at a large table fit for at least twenty people, and they ate their breakfast in silence at first. "So, which element are you planning on trying to teach me?" asked Frisk in between bites. Korra took a huge bite out of her banana, and thought about it.

"I guess we could always start with water. Unless you have a favorite element in mind," offered Korra. Frisk hadn't put much thought towards a favorite element, and just shrugged. She decided whatever the Avatar thought was best was good enough for her. Asami slightly frowned, hoping Frisk doesn't get too upset if she isn't a bender. Asami remembers when she was a child. She would run around the mansion, trying to shoot fire balls out of her hands.

"What are you doing, princess?" asked Hiroshi. Asami had looked up at him with shimmering green eyes.

"I wanna be a firebender! Yah!" shouted Asami as she tried to shoot fire from her hands again. Hiroshi laughed heartily at his silly daughter. "What's so funny?" asked Asami.

"You most likely won't be a bender since your mother and I are not benders," chuckled Hiroshi. That moment broke Asami's little heart.

"I'm not a bender?" she squeaked. He picked up his sad daughter and brought her face to look at him.

"No, but you're much more than a nonbender. You're a genius, you're sweet, thoughtful, and you make your mother and I very happy," smiled Hiroshi.

Choking on her tea somewhat at the sudden memories, Asami excused herself to go use the restroom. Back in Sans' cell, Sans was leaning against the wall, banging his head slightly against the platinum. Mako was at his desk again with his head in his hands. There wasn't one day where he was given a break from Sans' shenanigans. Sans was hoping he would piss off Mako enough to make him murder him with fire.

"Listen buddy, I know you hate it in there, and I hate that I have to babysit you. But please, can you stop doing that?" pleaded Mako. Sans just slowly shook his head and continued banging his skull. Then, an idea occurred in Mako's head, and he smiled from his plan. Sans noticed the smile and thought Mako had finally snapped. Instead, Mako transported him to a different prison.

"No matter. I can still drive whoever is in here insane to the point where they kill me," thought Sans. He had wanted that, until he saw he had a new cell mate.

"Hey Zaheer. You have a new friend," smirked Mako as he shoved Sans in the room with the crazy airbender and left whistling a victory tune. Sans stared at the flying man.

"So, we're roommates now. I call this corner," half joked Zaheer.


	8. Chapter 8

AMS

SIFU KORRA

It was really warm outside despite Summer being nearly over, but that was the way Frisk had liked it. Korra didn't really care for the hot weather all too much except for the fact that she was able to go swimming a lot, and it boosted her firebending. She loved the Winter more based on the fact it reminded her of the South Pole, where she grew up. Before she had bent any element at all, she was just Tonraq and Senna's daughter. Everything changed when she bent fire for the first time. It was just Korra, Frisk, Mako, and Bolin outside at the training grounds. "Mako? Why aren't you watching the unhinged skeleton at the station? Not that I'm not happy to see you... but there are more important things going on," asked Asami.

Mako glanced up at Asami and began to sweat nervously. He isn't one to skirt responsibilities, and he was worried about how the dynamic duo couple would react. "He was driving me crazy to the point I could barely get work done, so I made him and Zaheer roommates," explained Mako. It dawned on Mako finally how that might have been a mistake. "Maybe I shouldn't have put the dangerous skeleton with the only airbender in the world with a lot of power," he thought. Thinking about it some more, he decided it would most likely benefit everyone if Sans got his own personal prison somewhere, similar to when the Red Lotus members had their own special prisons. "They would have continued to stay locked up if Zaheer hadn't gotten airbending anyway," he thought some more.

"Uh, Mako?" said Asami, waving a hand in front of his face. He blinked, finally looking back up at Asami. She put her dainty, polished hands on her round hips and scowled. "How could you have moved Sans to that prison? I get it's heavily guarded, but now Zaheer has someone to potentially work with to escape," whisper shouted Asami as she bent back Mako's hand. The broody firebender yelled out in pain, begging for mercy. "So what do you plan to do if the two of them do escape?" asked Asami through gritted teeth.

"I was thinking of putting Sans in his own special prison where I don't have to constantly watch over him. We'll have the White Lotus take shifts watching him like with the Red Lotus members before Zaheer helped them escape," grunted Mako. His wrist was let go of and he began rotating it, letting out a chorus of pops and crackles. "Be careful with my wrist. This is the arm that just came out of the cast too," whined the firebender. Rolling her eyes, Asami told him to "man up" and "take care of the skeleton" to which he just nodded his head.

Bolin slid over to the ex couple and shushed them both. "Guys, Korra finally decided what element to try teaching Frisk," excitedly said Bolin. Mako and Asami stopped arguing just to give Frisk and Korra their full attention as they wondered what element Korra would try to teach the kid. This kid who claimed to be from a different world altogether, would try to do something she has never known to exist. Mako whispered to Bolin, asking what element they would try. "I'm not sure. All I know is they decided when Korra stepped away from the kid," replied Bolin.

The Avatar got in an earthbending stance. "For earthbending, you want to be firmly planted on the ground. Root yourself to the ground, and be sturdy like a rock. If you're meant to be an earthbender, you'll stand your stance and stop the boulder I'm going to hurl at you," said Korra. Frisk was shocked that Korra would decide to hurl something that big at her. "Don't worry. If you don't stop it before it gets closer than it should, I'll stop it," thought Korra, who could sense Frisk's worry. Lifting a boulder out of the ground, Korra hurled it at Frisk. Keeping her stance, the thing began coming at her in slow motion as she weighed her options. She realized she could let it hit her and she would have to save, but she can't remember when she last saved, for the first time in her life. Then, she remembered the fact that Korra had some special healing water she had found when she went snooping around the place. As for a last resort, she could dodge before getting crushed.

"But then how will I know if I'm meant to be an earthbender if I don't face this head on?" she pondered. Before she could decide what to do, the boulder got too close for comfort. Instinctively moving to get out of the way, she stopped as soon as she noticed the boulder had also stopped. "What? Did I somehow stop it?" she wondered, staring at the boulder in disbelief. As soon as the boulder was brought backwards did her hopes come crashing down. "I should have known that the Avatar wouldn't have let me die anyway. Gah! I'm so stupid!" Frisk internally screamed at herself. Bolin had high hopes for Frisk being an earthbender, so he was naturally disappointed when she moved to get out of the way.

"She moved really quick, despite the boulder being right there. She may be an airbender," offered Mako. That brought a smile to Korra's lips. The more airbenders, the better. Walking up to the kid, Korra offered a hand and brought Frisk back up to her feet. She then got in an airbender stance, and Frisk did the same. The two circled around each other for a while until Korra was sure Frisk had the footing down pat. Since dodging was what Frisk became a pro at, it was no wonder she would be so good at airbender movements.

"Keep that stance. I'm going to throw some earth chunks at you. Staying in that pose and using only circular movements, dodge them," said Korra. Nodding her head, Frisk felt more determined than the last time and practically hopped on her toes in excitement. Grunting, Korra sent medium sized chunks of earth flying towards Frisk who dodged every single rock effortlessly. Asami, Bolin, Mako, and Korra all smiled in high hopes for Frisk.

Meanwhile at the prison...

"So, you're a strange looking one. You somehow make into my heavily guarded prison, yet you look depressed and even a bit shaken up. I can feel your unbalanced energy from here," softly spoke Zaheer. Sans just shrugged and flipped the airbender off. Deeply chuckling, Zaheer assumed his lotus position. "I know you have no qualms against me, for we just met. I can help you regain inner balance, if you'll help me with something," said the airbender. Looking over at the aged man, Sans walked forward a bit, hands in his coat pockets.

"How do you plan to help me? And if you do manage to help me, how do you want me to help you?" asked Sans, intrigued. Sans doubted that this man could help him, but seeing a flying human made him hope for the better. "This guy's a criminal somehow, so I have to be cautious," thought Sans. Sans waited for a response as the old man cracked his knuckles.

"For starters, I can help guide you into the spirit world where the healing will take place. As for helping me, I need you to bust me out of here. See, a while back, I was framed for trying to kidnap the Avatar. She is my family. I would never dream of trying to hurt her. Do you think you can help me?" asked Zaheer. The skeleton felt bad for the man, and decided he would help Zaheer escape since it meant he would also escape, and maybe even find his way back home where everything made sense.

"I will help you, even if you cannot help me," promised Sans. The man grinned and told Sans to follow his example upon meditating into the spirit world. Sitting down in the lotus position, Sans folded his hands together, and closed his eyesockets. Their breathing was in sync. A few moments passed before Sans could feel a pleasant breeze, and he woke up in a neon green field with tall, neon pink and orange flowers. Looking around in awe, he then wondered how this place would help him.

"Looks like you made it. The healing process begins with finding the Lake Of Prayers. I can take you there," smiled Zaheer. Grabbing hold of Sans' shoulders, everything in the spirit world zoomed past Sans in a blur as they were then in front of a shimmering, neon blue lake. He stepped in, and felt it working at his mind immediately.


	9. Chapter 9

AMS

Can You Feel It?

Sans sighed as the water glowed like a halo around him, working at the tangled mess in his mind. His eye sockets jolted open as something started to feel extremely wrong, but right at the same time. While the water healed his pain, it seemed to do something else entirely. Zaheer grinned wickedly as he watched Sans delve deeper into insanity.

"Can you feel it friend?"

Sans' eye lights flickered over to where Zaheer stood. Shock, confusion, and knowledge evident in his eye sockets.

"I thought this would help me?" Gasped Sans.

Every second he lay in the water, the less of a grip he had on himself. He wanted to move, but he wanted the water to keep expanding his mind. It was a double edged sword really.

"Oh it is, it is. See, it's called the Lake Of Prayers. You were already kind of past insanity, so your subconscious thoughts started to slowly become your main thought process. The lake heals any and all pain in your mind but emphasises what your main thought process is," explained Zaheer.

"Y-you knew this would happen. I just want to be happy again," replied Sans, hurt from being betrayed.

"You will be happy."

"Not like this. Not without Frisk."

Zaheer snorted. "You really want to be friends with that selfish brat? She was selfish to try and keep you from home. She won't let you leave easily. I am helping you gain power so you can destroy her and leave."

Sans was about to disagree until he heard someone whisper to him from within his mind.

"You know he's right. If it wasn't for Frisk, you'd still be home with your little, charming brother," he heard the voice say.

He closed his eye sockets and finally relaxed in the water. It soothed his soul, told him universal secrets, and just above all… it made sense.

xxxxx

Out of breath, Korra's hands rested on her knees as her frame shook from the exercise. "Well, you may end up being an airbender, or at least, a very quick kid."

Frisk beamed, feeling proud of herself for at least being able to keep up.

From Mako's walkie talkie, a man began talking.

"So, I'm not really sure what this means, but the two of them are meditating. Should I do something?"

Mako's eyes widened.

 _Don't tell me the skeleton can enter the spirit world. Oh no this is all my fault!_

"Move Sans to one of the other prisons immediately! If you move his body, he'll have trouble finding it in case they are in the spirit world," ordered Mako.

"Yes sir."

That night, Frisk couldn't sleep as she was having nightmares of Sans lunging at her, murder in his eyes. She looked in the bathroom mirror sadly.

 _I haven't seen him look like that since…._

She sighed as she stopped her thoughts from even saying it.

 _Might as well practice my katas._

Sneaking out in the night, Frisk put her hands up and began circling around imaginary flying objects. She felt so immersed in her mental training that she didn't notice Korra knealing by the door, watching her with a smile plastered on her face. Feeling playful, she started to tiptoe towards Frisk with water by her hand.

 _She'll never see this coming_. _So close now._

Snapping a twig by accident, Frisk's eyes shot open as she reflexively pushed in front of her, sending herself and Korra flying in opposite directions. Once Frisk skidded to a halt, she rubbed her sore bum before the realization of what happened sank in, and she stood up slowly, staring at her hands.

"You can airbend!" Shouted Korra happily as she gave a proud thumbs up.

"I can airbend," breathlessly repeated Frisk.


	10. Chapter 10

AMS

STUCK IN THE SPIRIT WORLD

Doing as told, the guard cautiously walked in the cell, ready to restrain with metalbending if necessary. He picked up Sans and scurried out of there, not noticing Zaheer's eyes opening, watching him from the back. A smirk on his lips, knowing the seeds he had planted within the skeleton's severed mind.

Once the lake was finished with Sans was when he felt able to get out. He rubbed his skull, processing all the new information whispered to him.

"Zaheer? I'm ready to go back now!"

Nothing but the trills and chirps of spirits sounded. He gulped, looking around him.

"Zaheer!"

…

But nobody came.

Fragmented images flashed within his mind. An angry, genocidal Frisk with half of Flowey's face showed, a dusty knife in hand. His eye would have flashed, but alas, his magic is gone.

"Damn this cursed place," he whimpered.

Just then, a tiny little yellow spirit bounced toward him, concern on its face.

"Are you okay?"

Sans wiped his eye sockets and looked at the little creature. He got on his palms and knees.

"No. I'm far from okay bucko. I miss my home," explained Sans.

The spirit's ears drooped in sadness for him.

"I'm so sorry to hear that. Wait! I know something that might help! Follow me!"

Surprised, Sans stood up and began running to catch up with the spirit. It was blindingly fast, and Sans wasn't used to so much exercise. Eventually they came to a huge oasis with many different spirits in it.

"Aye Aye!" shouted the spirit as it bounced and waved with both arms.

The spirit called Aye Aye turned around and smiled, waving back. In a flash, he disappeared and reappeared before them. It made Sans jealous.

"Hello little guy. And hello to you too. What is your name?"

 _None of them are questioning me being a skeleton. Why?_

"Sans." He stuck out a bony hand for the spirit to shake.

"Nice to meet you. You look a little worse for wear. Why not relax with the rest of us and we will mend your clothing?" Offered the Aye Aye spirit.

He looked down at the spirit who brought him here but sighed when it just beamed up at him.

"Sure. And thanks."

Putting a friendly hand on Sans' back, the tall spirit led him to the oasis all the while telling him how Avatar Wan changed his outlook on strangers.

"If it wasn't for him, I never would have been this compassionate to you or anyone else other than the fellow spirits," he finished while handing Sans a cup of tea.

Sans then remembered the whispers telling him about the portals in the spirit world and he grew curious.

"So, if you're all about helping others, then have you been to the physical world recently?"

"Sadly no. I've stayed here so I could look over my oasis."

"It's just an oasis. It'll still be here if you decide to go visit the new Avatar. She is your best friend, just reincarnated. You deserve it after all you've done," replied Sans.

The tall spirit pondered it for a few seconds.

"I've never met any of the new Avatars. It sounds interesting. Alright, you've convinced me, skeleton. Where is this new Avatar now?"

"Republic City."

"I see. Will you be coming?"

Sans got up and as soon as he did, the other spirits put his mended clothing on him.

"Yes but don't tell them you met me. We had a fallout so when we get back I'll just be heading home, minding my own business."

The spirit nodded before they started towards the post that would teleport them to where ever they wanted or needed to go. When Sans and the spirits made it there, Sans immediately jolted upwards, flying at the speed of sound until he found his body within a metal prison.

After meeting Zaheer and being in the lake, he felt so much sturdier mentally. He noticed a couple guards nearby.

"So the kid can airbend? That's amazing, Korra!" One of them had a walkie talkie out, so they could both talk to the Avatar.

Intrigued, Sans listened closer.

"Yeah she's already mastered the air scooter technique," Korra replied, albeit somewhat staticy.

Eye sockets widened, he looked at the ground.

 _Airbend? Even though she's not from here, she can do something here. That means I should be able to as well. For Zaheer. The poor man just wants his family back._

The next few weeks, Sans would sit in the middle of his cell during the day, observing when the guards sparred with each other. He noticed that most of his guards bent earth and metal. Some bent fire, and very few bent water. None of them bent air. During nights when it was hard to see him, he mimicked their forms, training intensely.


	11. Chapter 11

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Sans was thankful for not having skin since the weather seemed to be unpredictable. At times it would be blistering hot, and at other times it would be real chilly. He only knew this by observing the guards during the time he wasn't training. A month passed with no results. He began to wonder what he was doing wrong, until it hit him.

 _I need to use my chi to bend._

With this realization, he began meditating on the cosmic power in the universe. He opened his eyes to find himself in the spirit world yet again.

"I'm back. The key to unlocking my bending abilities is in this world somehow. I just know it," he mused out loud.

"Tree…Time…" a voice whispered in his head.

"Of course. The Tree Of Time is the key. Thank you Korra for evicting that troublesome spirit. It will be your downfall," smirked Sans.

He stopped in his tracks, wondering why he contemplated on murdering the Avatar. He's never thought like that.

"I can't hurt her. She's Zaheer's family."

Focusing on his destination, he stood still while the spirit world moved for him at an incredible pace until he was standing right in front of the tree.

xxxxx

"What's he doing?" asked a guard.

"Looks like he's meditating. He's a freaking skeleton who can't bend. What's meditating going to do?" snickered another guard.

"Uh, maybe we shouldn't let our guard down?" suggested one.

"Rookie, he ain't gonna hurt anyone as long as he stays locked up."

"What if he somehow learns to bend metal though?"

"Then we put him in his place."

Xxxxxx

He firmly grasped the edge of the hole and hoisted himself up into it. Once inside, he began to see visions of his past. In Undertale.

"How does it know? Simply mindblowing," muttered Sans.

His heart ached as he saw the visions where he and Frisk hung out at Grillby's.

 _Am I doing the right thing? I just want my buddy back. I just want the Grillby days back._

He looked over at another vision where he and his brother hung out in Snowdin Forest, waiting for a human to come through. Anger welled up in him.

 _Ever since Frisk showed up, nothing but unhappiness stemmed forth until I killed her over and over again. And now she's trapped me in a world I don't belong in._

His vengeance was renewed and stronger than ever, and he sat in the middle of the tree. He began to connect with the cosmic power in the universe.

Xxxxx

"I'd say you pretty much mastered airbending, kid," heavily breathed Korra.

Sitting lotus style on an air ball, Frisk beamed. Her hard work paid off, and she was now an airbending master.

"So, will I be getting tattoos?" asked Frisk.

"Definitely. I'll call Tenzin," smiled Korra.

Asami nodded happily at Frisk as she handed her a glass of lychee juice which she gratefully drank. Frisk could safely say this was a world she didn't ever want to leave.

"He's meditating in his cell now? Well, do something! He may be a skeleton, but he's very mysterious," shouted Mako before he slammed his phone down on his desk.

Only the light from his lamp was provided as the sun had long since gone down. However, his stress has been rising to dangerous levels.

"I'm only twenty eight. I shouldn't have this much gray hair yet," he whimpered.

Being a cop will stress anyone. But dealing with a dangerous skeleton from another world really takes the cake for Mako.

"Maybe this is my karma for leading so many women on in the past? Definitely won't find anyone now that I look like I'm in my mid thirties."

He remembered his vow to Korra all those years ago.

 **I'll go into battle with you.**

 _And I meant every word of it. But I want to prevent a battle, if possible._

He slid underneath his desk and closed his eyes for the night.


	12. Chapter 12

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"Let us anoint our new airbending master, Frisk Gomez!" The temple erupted in applause as a now bald Frisk stood tall and proud.

 _I sure hope with my new powers I can send Sans back home to get the help he needs. The longer he's here, I fear he is getting worse._

Later that evening everyone celebrated with a feast and a mover. Frisk didn't care about the mover quality since she's used to watching movies with color.

 _I sure do miss watching anime with Alphys. These are just cringy._

"So kid, what did you think of my latest mover? Name's Varrick by the way."

"It was pretty good," lied Frisk.

 _Normally I don't lie, but he made this and let us watch it in my honor._

"I can tell from your eyes that you didn't quite like it," Varrick crossed his arms.

"Ah sorry. I was trying to spare your feelings. The truth is, I've seen better. I mean no disrespect though."

"You've seen better, huh?" He asked, narrowing his eyes.

 _Oh no he's offended!_

"You're right! That was trash. Zero stars, am I right? What we need is something much better. Nutuck fighting a volcano? Boring! What we need is Nutuck fighting an evil master airbender! You! Come with me, kid. We'll make history!" Varrick continued his ramblings as he grabbed Frisk and walked off with her.

Xxxxx

He opened his eye lights and noticed he was standing on a bridge made of light. He looked around at what appeared to be space. For a moment he swore he saw Gaster. Then, he looked ahead at a much bigger version of himself holding a giant white orb. He put one foot in front of the other, and walked with a purpose. He stepped into the orb and let the power sink in.

 _This is amazing! I can see how doing this helps the Avatar better control their Avatar State._

Xxxxx

"Alright kid, you ready to become a star?"

Frisk looked around the office and noticed he was an extremely wealthy man. She also thought about how Korra struggles with gaining support from the leaders and citizens when she needs it.

"Yes and I have an idea."

Xxxxx

He reopened his eye sockets and was once again in the cell. His lonely, metal cell which once held him back now provides him with newfound hope. He hopes to bend as he dreams of destroying Frisk and reuniting Zaheer with Korra.

He reached out in front of him, and focused on the earth within the metal.

"Hah! Look at him try to bend the metal. Such a stupid skeleton," laughed a guard as she downed her beer.

"I quit! I'm not gonna get killed for your mistakes," shouted the new guy.

"Fine, run away like a coward! I'll be sure to spread the word that Narook was a sniveling baby!"

As soon as the boat sped off, there was a sharp metallic sound. They all turned around to notice a perfect circle cut out of the cell with no skeleton inside. They all stood up and put their hands up, ready to fight.

"Shit, looks like that kid was on to something."

Sans appeared behind her just then.

"Oh you think?" He whispered seductively before driving the metal into her rapidly beating heart.

All the others were too shocked at the sight of a metalbending skeleton to even fight back, giving Sans the opportunity to shish kabab them all and steal a boat.

"I'm coming, Zaheer. Just you wait."


	13. Chapter 13

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Sans couldn't help but smirk as the boat sped across the water. _I'm finally free! And I can bend metal. I'm still a novice, but I have the element of surprise on my side now. heh. Element. Heheh._

xxxxx

"So that's your idea, huh? Propaganda to make people accept Korra? I mean, sure, but it probably won't work. To like the Avatarr, people have to want to like her. And even though Korra does a great job at keeping peace and balance, not many people like the way she goes about things. Some Avatars are just more likeable than others. For example, almost everyone loved Aang due to his pacificism. He never killed anyone, nor did he go after anyone unless left with no choice. He took away bending as punishment, which is what the world agreed with," Varrick finished as he sipped his tea.

"He took away bending? Why doesn't Korra just do that?" asked Frisk. She remembered Bolin explaining energybending to her when her and Sans were trying to go home. Before sans lost his skull.

"It's all because of her first ever real conflict, Amon. He was a bloodbender who used his bending to permanently block others' chi paths, making them unable to bend. Because of this, Korra does not want to take away bending since she feels it would be too harsh of a punishment rather than simply killing off really bad guys. She does try and reason with them now, but when they refuse to listen is when she takes action."

Frisk slumped in her seat as she let this sink in. _Korra just isn't likeable because of how she handles situations. I guess being the Avatar is tough. But she doesn't seem to care about how others view her. She loves Asami, and she has a lot of friends. Maybe she's content with just that._

Jinora's spirit suddenly flashed in front of Frisk, freaking her out. "Frisk! Sans has escaped his prison, and killed White Lotus guards in the process. He's most likely coming for you or for Korra. We need you to come with me and Tenzin immediately. Meet us at City Hall."

Her heart beat rapidly in her chest, but she suddenly felt determined and stood up. "Forgive me, Varrick, but I need to go now." She rolled out of his office via air scooter until she got outside. As soon as she got out the door was when she hopped off the ball, kicked off the ground and opened her suit wings, allowing her to fly in the air.

Frisk walked in City Hall to see Tenzin, Jinora, President Raiko, Korra, and a man dressed in green sitting at a table. "Thanks for coming, Frisk," hurriedly said Raiko. Frisk nodded before taking a seat. "I say we just let the Avatar kill off this skeleton. He can rip open portals within the universe itself, and now he can metalbend. This is starting to give me Harmonic Convergence vibes, and I hate it," continue Raiko.

"I can and will destroy Sans if need be, but I want to first take away his bending and see if I can reason with him from there," Korra cut in.

The thought of Korra killing Sans made Frisk squirm in her seat.

"As an airbender, I agree with Korra destroying Sans. He's too powerful and too dangerous," Tenzin cut in.

"I don't agree with killing Sans. There's got to be a way. Take his bending, and then maybe find a way to send him back to his universe?" suggested Jinora.

"He could just come back if we did that. Even without the bending, he can still mess with the fabric of our universe and that's scary," replied Korra.

"So it's decided then," said Raiko.

"Nothing's decided," Frisk finally cut in, standing up. Everyone looked at Frisk quietly.

"Well then what do you suggest?" asked Raiko, pushing his glasses up.

"He might not be too far gone. I believe there's still a glimmer of a good person inside him. We just need to reach him, bring him back. I've known him for so long and he's always been carefree and a jokester. He believes in justice too. So I know he isn't bad. Something happened to make him snap, but I don't think we can't save him."

"So, you want to put our whole universe at stake for one skeleton who's lost his mind and is on a murder rampage, because of who he used to be? People change. Sometimes, for the worst. Take Kuvira for example. She set out to stabilize the Earth Kingdom and tried to destroy Republic City in the process. Now she's behind bars only because she couldn't win against the Avatar," replied Raiko. "Your friend shows no remorse over murdering those White Lotus guards, so we should show him no mercy."

Not wanting to hear anymore, Frisk ran outside and tried to find Sans' spirit energy. Once she found it, she projected her soul to him, causing him to jump back.

"Frisk? Are you dead?" he asked, surprised.

"No, this is astral projection. Sans, are you okay? Look, I'll send you home. I promise. Just please, stop hurting people here. This isn't like you. You're the comedian who loves his younger brother and friends. I saved the monsters from underground. Do you remember me?" She asked as she reached a hand out to caress his skull in a caring manner.

"I…" tears started falling from his eye sockets as the lights came back. "I hurt so many people, Frisk. I think the levels of determination here are affecting me. I… I'm scared and I just want to go home."

"Oh Sans, it's okay. I'll talk to the others and we'll work on getting home. Just stay here for now until I let you know when the coast is clear." She looked around to see he had landed on the beach at the edge of Republic City. A voice suddenly spoke out to Sans.

 **You shouldn't trust her. In order to reunite Korra and Zaheer, you must kill Frisk.**

"But the kid's saved me and my whole kind. She has never hurt anyone. I can trust her."

 **But she isn't going to save you now because you killed people. She told you to stay here so Korra can come here and kill you. Don't fall for her trap. Go, find Zaheer and break him out. I'll tell you how to get home after you complete your task.**

"What about Frisk? If I take her home with me, do you think things will go back to the way they used to be?"

 **NO. LEAVE HER. SHE BETRAYED YOU.** **You can never trust her now.**

Sans held his head in confusion. He wanted to trust Frisk, but felt the voice in his head would never steer him wrong.

"Sorry kid. I won't kill you, but I'm leaving without you after I reunite Korra with her family. It'll be my way of apologizing for all the damage I've done."

"Guys, I just spoke to Sans via astral projection. He's sorry for what he did and I've decided that he and I are going to work on getting back home. The overwhelming determination in this world is affecting him. The sooner we leave, the better," said Frisk as she came back in.

Korra and the others sighed in relief, except for Raiko. "You sure it wasn't just an act to get you to lower your guard? Sorry, but I need to see him for myself. Where is he now?"

"He's at the beach. I told him to stay put so he should be there still."

"Then let's go on Oogie," Tenzin stood.

xxxxx

 _Crreeeeaaaaak!_

"Thanks Sans. Though it would have been easier to just kill them since they're witnesses to you escaping your prison cell," Zaheer said quickly correcting himself from slipping.

Sans shook his head. "I've done enough killing. I need to just focus on reuniting you with Korra so I can return home."

"Then I bid you farewell, and good luck."

"You too," smiled Sans.

xxxxx

Everyone got off Oogie's back and looked around the empty beach.

"He's gone," Raiko said in a told-you-so tone.

Frisk slumped in the sand. "Sans… Where are you?"


	14. Chapter 14

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Zaheer walked with Sans past the guards tied up in metal bars, squirming. "Sans, you're making a huge mistake!" Shouted one of the guards.

"H-"

"Don't bother conversing with them, Sans," said Zaheer. He rested a firm hand on Sans' shoulder. "Thanks to you, I'm free. And now, no one will be able to chain me down again."

"I'm really glad I could help." Sans smiled up at Zaheer.

"If you ever need anything, you'll be able to find me at Xai Bau's Grove in the spirit world. Take care my friend. Don't let Frisk stop you from reaching your goals." His voice became harder to hear as he ascended off into the sky.

"Alright, how do I get home from here?"

 **Go to the swamp. At the heart of the swamp, there will be a portal to take you back home. Leave now before Frisk catches on. As soon as you go through it, it will close, leaving her trapped here.**

Understanding of these instructions, Sans stepped in his speed boat and began to go towards the swamp. He immediately stopped when Frisk's spirit popped up in front of him. "What now?" He groaned.

"Why didn't you wait at the beach? We were supposed to leave back home. Now the President thinks you're an enemy and is trying to order Korra to kill you. She doesn't want to but feels you're leaving her no choice. I'm trying to change their mind on the matter but the fact you didn't keep your word made you look bad. Come back now it's not too late," urged Frisk. "You're my friend. I care about you."

"Frisk I… I care about you too but… Our friendship ended a while back. I know you don't trust me and I don't trust you. Since we came here, I've changed and you've changed. It's time we go our separate ways. I promise to stay out of the way so just, let me be. In peace," replied Sans.

There was a twinge in Frisk's heart. She remembered shaking his hand for the first time, eating Grillby'z with him, walking with him around Waterfall, and eating at MTT Resort. She sat down and started sobbing as the feeling of losing her best friend sank in.

"Please Sans don't leave me. I'm sorry I came here. I'd take it back if I could but for some reason I can't load to before ending up on Korra's couch. Please reconsider. You can trust me and I do trust you! I know you're just in a funk but you'll pull through. Just lean on me," she begged through her broken sobs.

It hurt Sans to see and hear Frisk like this. _I had to be honest, because I do care about her. I don't want to lie about how I feel._ "Go to your new home, Frisk. Sorry, but we're not friends."

He started up the boat again and ignored her presence and cries, her pleas, until she gave up and cried into her new friends' arms. Tears left his eye sockets. "I didn't want to lose her as a friend, but it happened," he sniffed.

 **She was never your friend Sans. The sooner you realize and accept this, the less you will hurt.**

xxxxx

Zaheer took in the fresh air he hadn't tasted in almost a decade as he flew through the air. "That Sans wasn't such an awful skeleton. To honor him, I'll end that Frisk who caused him so much suffering. But first, I need to end Korra. Even if I can't stop the Avatar cycle in this life, I'll end the cycle the moment I find the new Avatar."

He flew in an abandoned building in Republic City and meditated. He sat at Xai Bau's Grove tree and waited.

.

.

.

And waited.

.

.

.

And waited.

.

.

.

Finally, Sans showed up. Zaheer's bored expression quickly turned into a soft smile. "Hello Sans. How are you doing?"

Sans shrugged. "Not too shabby. I'm about to go home. But I wanted to say goodbye before I left. It's only right since you helped me."

Zaheer's smile faltered a bit. "Sans, I respect you. You became powerful in such a short amount of time but never once did you think about seizing power over others. Which is why I am going to be brutally honest with you. I manipulated you into freeing me. Korra isn't related to me. I plan on ending the Avatar cycle because true order is disorder. However, to make it up to you, I'll kill Frisk for you. She'll most likely try to stand in my way anyway. But I am truly sorry for doing what I had to do. I wish you luck, friend."

Sans just stood there, hands still in his pockets as he shook. "Did what you had to do? You lied to me. I freed a criminal thinking you were a good honest guy trying to reunite with family. That resonated within me because my sole purpose for getting back home is getting back to my little bro. And then you call me friend?"

 **Zaheer was only trying to escape prison. What's so wrong about that? He didn't know you well but grew to respect you enough to open up and tell you the truth. Isn't that enough?**

Sans clutched his skull in anger. "NO! IT'S NOT ENOUGH! FORGET THIS I'M GOING HOME! PAPYRUS NEEDS ME!"

"Ah, so, do you want me to kill Frisk for you?"

"I don't know. Her and I aren't friends. Do what you want. I freed you and I'm not strong enough to stop you. This is your world. Do with it what you will. Bye." Without another word, Sans left the spirit world. He stared up into the portal and sighed, having second thoughts.

"You're really going to leave your friend behind?" Asked an old lady.

He turned, seeing a blind woman dressed in green, barefoot, hands behind her back. He sighed. "She isn't my-"

"Oh cut it out. I know a friendship when I see one, no matter how many times you deny it. Just know that if she dies, it's on you."

"How did you-"

"I'm pretty tapped in in the going ons around here. And you talk out loud when you're in the spirit world. I heard everything. Tell me. You hear a voice in your head, don't you?"

"...yeah…."

"If you want to get better, I suggest staying in the swamp. It's the best place for spiritual growth and healing. But keep it down while you're here!" With that, the grumpy old woman who knew everything walked away.

Sans sat against the Banyan Grove Tree and thought about what she said. "Guess I'm staying a bit longer…"


	15. Chapter 15

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"Frisk? Mind some company?" Tenzin asked as he lightly knocked on her door. No response as usual. He sighed, feeling defeated.

"Dad, just go in. It's been three days and she hasn't come out except to eat and use the restroom," sternly said Jinora.

"I guess I'm just trying to be patient and give her as much space as she needs. Losing a friend hurts," responded Tenzin as he remembered losing Lin as a friend for a long time. He remembered Pema comforting him during those times and sighed. "You're right. She needs us right now."

xxxxx

Sans walked around the swamp for the first time since he arrived. "Nothing's happened. Where is this so called healing? Maybe that old lady knows something," muttered Sans.

"I'm not that old!" He quickly turned around in pure shock.

"C-can you teleport?" He asked, hopeful of her answer.

"What? No, don't be a numbskull. I popped out of the ground."

He chuckled at her pun and nodded his head. "Oh so you're an earthbender, huh. Bend any sub elements too?"

"You're looking at the founder of metalbending. Of course I know you couldn't have known that so I'll let it mudslide," she winked. He chuckled some more. "What's on your mind, skelly?"

"Aren't you blind? How do you know what I am?"

Toph chuckled. "Don't worry about how I know things kid. Now what's really on your mind?"

They sat down on a tree branch as Sans gathered his thoughts the best he could. "I've been here for three days, waiting for this place to heal me. But nothing has happened. Any idea why?"

"I'm not a miracle worker but I'm guessing it's because you're not actively seeking the help or wanting help. You're only here because you were curious about what I said. Do you or do you not want help?"

"I...I think somewhere, in my heart, I do. If I didn't I would have left."

"Then you need to actively seek the help from the swamp."

Sans sat there, wondering if this wise old woman had an answer to his next question. "Ma'am… D-do you think her and I will ever be friends again?"

"That's up to you. She's already made a couple efforts to help you but you've been a numbskull listening to that voice rather than her. Any other questions? Or can I go take a nap now?"

He shook his head, prompting her to stand up and walk back to her little hideout. He stayed there on the branch a little while longer. He touched the thick branch in deep thought. _I wonder how far this thing stretches. I've never seen anything like it. This world… really is amazing. Maybe staying wouldn't be so bad? Maybe that woman is right and I should stop listening to that voice. It's already told me to trust Zaheer after he admitted to using me. Frisk… she never used me._ With his mind on Frisk and his hand on the branch, light shone around his hand. _What's this?_ The light shot in a singular direction, and he was able to see within the vines as the light continued.

Soon, it stopped, and he saw Frisk laying in her bed, staring dully out the window in her room. _She looks so lifeless. I did that to her._ With newfound determination, he took his hand off the branch and stood up.

"I have to actively seek help. Well… it starts with getting acquainted with the swamp," he said to himself.

He shed himself of his jacket, leaving him in just a plain white shirt, and his black shorts with white stripes. "I'm an earthbender now. Maybe I can practice some regular earthbending while I heal. My shoes get in the way of feeling the Earth though." Frowning, he kicked off his shoes and let the dirt coat his toes. It felt so relaxing. "Oh wow. The ground isn't at all slimy or musty. It's cool and comforting, and really soft."

Moving his hand, he lifted a chunk of Earth with ease. Smiling to himself, he swung it around like a kitten playing with a ball of yarn, but without physically touching it. From inside her hut, Toph smiled. "That's the way, young skeleton. That's the way."

xxxxx

Unable to take the guilt of how she's making others worry so much, Frisk got up out of her bed, took a refreshing cold shower, snapped on her air uniform, and walked outside where the others were going through the spinning gates.

"You're becoming more and more like the leaf everyday guys! Almost perfect," beamed Tenzin. The group of airbenders smiled up at him as they thanked him simultaneously. His eyes fell upon Frisk who had her head down in embarrassment. Everyone turned and smiled warmly at her.

"Frisk! You're okay!" Ikki cried as she lunged toward Frisk and crushed her in a bear hug. Frisk couldn't help but laugh a bit and hug her back. Meelo walked up and ruffled her hair.

"It's great to see you. You okay?" He asked.

"I'm not sure yet. But that's why I came out to be with everyone. I want to get better."

xxxxx

From his hideout, Zaheer kept a close eye on Korra as she worked on finding Sans alongside Mako, Bolin, and Asami

"What do you plan on doing once you find him?"

"I don't know, Mako. I… I don't think he wants to hurt anyone anymore. What needs to be done is he needs to go on trial for several accounts of murder against the White Lotus and escaping prison. If he pleads guilty, I'll see about getting him just a decade in prison," answered Korra. "But at the same time, I don't want to anger him so much that he destroys everything and everyone around him."

"As the Avatar, you should bring this guy down. Since when did you ever try to tiptoe around the enemy?" Asked Mako.

"Because this enemy doesn't really feel like an enemy, and everyone else actually came from this universe. There are several different factors to consider here. As the Avatar it's my job to keep peace and balance. Not fight everybody," huffed Korra.

Annoyed, Korra gave herself an air boost back up to the mainland to get a reading. Placing her palm on the ground, light shone around her palm before it shot in the direction of the swamp. It stopped, and she saw Sans lightly smiling as he played with the Earth.

"Guys, he's at the swamp. I'm going alone as to not overwhelm him," Korra called out to her friends.


	16. Chapter 16

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As fast as her arms could windmill, Korra sped through the waters on a motorless boat solo. She wanted to bring along her girlfriend and friends, but knew she needed to be alone with Sans for things to work out favorably.

 **"Just in case you might need backup, here's an instant pager. Just hit this button, and all of us will be notified. We will drop whatever we are doing to come aid you. But please do this before it gets too bad so we can have the time necessary to actually get there," explained Asami.**

 **Korra looked at the red button in her hand. It had a lid to cover it. "Why the lid?"**

 **"So you don't accidentally press the button if things actually end up going as planned."**

 **"Alright. Thanks sweetie." Smiling, Korra embraced Asami and quickly pressed her lips against hers before climbing into her boat.**

 **"Good luck," said Mako.**

 **Bolin sniffled. "Don't hesitate to press that button! We want to make sure you're safe after all."**

 **"Thanks guys. I'll be back."**

She thumbed over the covered button in her pocket as she walked through the thick swamp. She looked around, noticing the spirits were relaxing. _This means he isn't disturbing them. I wonder if Toph is still here._

She continued but suddenly came to multiple pathways. She pressed her hand against the ground and suddenly knew which way to go.

A presence made her stop in her tracks as she slowly turned around.

"Z-Zaheer. You got out."

xxxxx

"Having fun there?" Asked Toph as she sat down on the thick branch, watching Sans Earthbend.

"Heh, yeah. It's a great element," he responded. "I also haven't been hearing that voice as much."

"Because your bending is your way of bonding with this world. You feel connected."

"Grounded."

Smiling, Toph nodded. "Therefore less afraid of the world. Perhaps, less afraid of the Avatar?"

Sans stopped bending the Earth as he thought about Korra and how she kills bad guys. "But I've done bad things when I lost my mind. I should stay away from her." He frowned, thinking about how close her and Frisk are. He suddenly felt like an outcast outlaw. Someone who can never fit in. Except with nature itself. "Besides, I have you as company," he said, smiling.

Toph sighed. "I won't be around much longer, kiddo. For one, I'm old. Two, I'm going back home to be with my family before I die. Back to the Metal Clan."

 _The metal clan?_

"You can make the swamp your home if you really want to stay away from society. Or you could come with me if you want. But I have to warn you, my family is good friends with the Avatar. A word of advice before I go: just because you've done bad things in your past doesn't make you a bad person."

He wiggled his toes in the ground in thought. "I do like it here, but I also don't want to be alone."

"Well, those are your options. Stay and be alone, or come out of your comfort zone to make new friends. But choosing to stay here will only hinder your healing process since the swamp has already done its part." She walked away after saying that, leaving Sans by himself. A couple spirits rested near him, making him smile.

"I couldn't have gotten better without you guys for sure. I wonder how those other spirits are doing. I forgot their name…" he frowned as he tried to remember.

xxxxx

"Yes, I have escaped. I'm done being held down by chains Korra. How have you been?" Zaheer put on a face of concern. "You look worried."

 _He helped me before… maybe he's a changed man? He also caused my ptsd…_

"I'm worried about my friend's old friend. He's in the swamp Earthbending. But… he can be dangerous. He's able to rip open the fabric of our universe," explained Korra. "I'm not here to try and hurt him. But he needs to stand trial for murder and escaping prison."

"Unless you plan to make me stand trial for the same, just let him be. He was confused and hurt, so of course he lashed out. If anything, offer to help him get home. If he chooses to stay, offer to help him settle in," suggested Zaheer.

Korra sighed and thought about it. "The president won't like that two criminals are out. While I believe you and him are changed people, the people won't go for it. It'll cause chaos."

"This is where your support group comes in. Team Avatar has your back. They trust you with their lives. Together, we can change people's minds. The chaos will die down, rest assured." He walked up to Korra, placing a hand on her back, guiding her through the swamp.

Sans heard footprints. He expected it to be that old lady, but his heart fell when he saw Korra with… "Zaheer?!" He frantically got up and backed away.

"Sans, it's okay," Korra said calmly. "Zaheer offered to help me accept you and him in society. We'll get through this."

"Wait… he offered to help you?" Sans asked, more confused.

 **"I plan on ending the Avatar cycle. Natural order is disorder."**

"B-but he said several crazy things to me."

Zaheer cocked his head and frowned. "You lashed out pretty hard at me when I told you I planned on escaping to help the Avatar. It seemed like you were hearing things at the time."

Sans' eye sockets widened. _Could it be it was a trick of the voices in my head? Did he truly say he was going to help her and my mind twisted it into something dark?_ Believing that was the case, Sans straightened himself up and looked at Korra. "For a while, I had been hearing messed up things in my head. I helped Zaheer escape because he wanted to reunite with you."

Korra nodded. "I believe he really does want to help. If he still wanted me dead, he would have attacked me from behind, but he didn't. Alright. I'm going to work on getting the public to give you both another chance."

"Mind giving me a lift to the Metal Clan? These old bones ain't what they used to be. Bending is difficult these days."

"Sure Toph. Here, I'll support you," offered Korra.

"I'm weak, not helpless! Let's go!"

Everyone walked back to Korra's boat where she used her waterbending to get Toph to the Metal Clan as quick as possible. At first, everyone was surprised to see Toph but were happy to have her back. Korra intercepted when Suyin and her kids tried to attack Zaheer. They all sat down and explained to them why Zaheer was out.

"I don't think you can trust him after what he did," Suyin said softly.

Toph came over and put her two cents in. "He wasn't lying."

Suyin bit her tongue after that and gave Zaheer the grand tour of the place before wishing him and Sans luck. "I'll support you both," she smiled.

Zaheer and Sans bowed in response. "Alright guys, let's get going back to Republic City. Frisk will be happy to see you Sans. As for you, Zaheer, prepare to meet our newest airbending master. I'm sure you guys will end up bonding."

"Frisk? What is she like?"

"She's a good kid. Strong, witty, and determined. I'm sure she will want to help clear your guys' names."

They made it back to Republic City where they were greeted with Mako, Bolin, Asami, Tenzin, Lin, Raiko, Wu, Jinora, and Frisk. Korra explained everything to them, which caused several yelling debates before Frisk brought up some good points.

"No one ever stays the same. I have a friend from my world who spent countless days hunting me to kill me simply because I'm a human. But through acts of kindness, she changed her mind and we became friends. Surely we can show these two love and kindness despite their past."

"You can't be serious Frisk. This isn't your world," frowned Raiko.

"But her words ring true," Tenzin cut in. "We were all blinded by our fear to see the bigger picture. They are remorseful of their actions and are trying to be accepted. Let us give them that chance."

"And if it doesn't work?" Asked Wu, crossing his arms.

"If you live by the what ifs, you'll miss out on something wonderful," answered Frisk.

"Then it's decided. We will give Zaheer and Sans a second chance. I hope you guys know what you're doing," said Raiko.


	17. Chapter 17

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Sans sat on a bench while Frisk encouraged the other airbenders to be the leaf. "Just don't even think about it. It's all instinct! Circular motions are your friend." When the student dashed into the gates, Frisk looked over at Sans and smiled before beckoning him over. _Baby steps. I'll just find new ways to bond with him and our friendship will grow._

"Sup," shrugged Sans awkwardly.

"I know you're an earthbender, but would you like to join us? Just for fun?"

The airbenders looked at him expectantly. Everyone had heard such great things about him from Frisk.

 **"This one time I wanted to buy hotdogs, but I had no more space in my inventory. So he stacked them on my head!"**

"Uhh sure. Why not. So I just have to move through these gates?"

"Yep! The key is to be like the leaf. To be able to turn and change direction at a moment's notice." She demonstrated for him by circling in place.

"Alright. I'm gonna fail you know," he said casually as he stretched.

"It's not about winning or losing. Just have fun with it."

From a distance, Zaheer watched. Since Meelo had already informed Frisk that Zaheer could pass the gates with ease, she didn't make him join them.

 **"While I've been told you can pass through the gates with ease, feel free to join us for fun anyway!" She smiled earnestly up at him, and in that moment, one of Zaheer's walls was brought down.**

 **"Uhh maybe. We'll see," he gruffly replied.** _ **I can't let myself lose sight of my goal.**_

Sans dove right into the spinning gates and almost tried to analyze the situation until Frisk's advice from earlier rang in his head, and he closed his eyes. Gracefully, he spun around each spinning gate with ease, causing the other airbenders, including Frisk, to watch on in shock and awe.

"Wait this is broken! How come an Earthbender is able to do something only airbenders are able to do?" Shouted Ikki.

"Well the rules don't exactly apply to Sans and I, though I did assume we could only learn one element since we are not the Avatar. But maybe there's something else going on," mumbled Frisk into her hand.

"But if that's the case then shouldn't you have been able to bend the other elements when I trained you?" Korra spoke up.

Frisk looked over to see Korra, Mako, and Bolin walk up. Frisk ran up to embrace Korra. "Hey! Where's Asami?"

"She had some business to attend to with her company," Bolin answered.

Frisk nodded at Bolin before looking at Korra. "To answer your question, you did kinda just speed train me. But I found out it took you a long time before you were able to bend air. So maybe air just comes naturally to me."

"Hmm. Usually if air comes naturally to someone, then water and fire will be quite easy to learn, but you might struggle to learn Earth," Mako analyzed. He walked up to Frisk. "Let me try something. A test of sorts. Open your palms please and hold them out."

She did as told, though confusion was evident on her face. Mako flicked his wrist to produce a small flame, and carefully placed it in her hands. He half expected it to vanish as soon as he let control of it go, but when it didn't waver he smiled. "Whoa," gasped Bolin.

Frisk stared at the flame that danced in her hands wide eyed as though she herself could not believe such a thing to be true. "So I'm an airbender, and a firebender?"

"So far you're able to bend two elements. But is that your limit?" Korra wondered out loud.

Sans was curious about whether or not he could bend more than one element too, but decided against pressing his luck. _They still don't trust me, and I don't blame them. I'm just gonna sit this one out._

"Sans! C'mere!"

Halting in his steps he turned around and walked over to Frisk. "Yeah?"

"Wanna try? You might be able to as well," offered Frisk as she pushed the flame closer to him.

He gulped as he cupped his hands and held them out. _We might be able to learn new things together._ She carefully placed the flame in his hands, but as soon as she let control go, the flame died out.

Sans stared at his empty hands sadly while Frisk scratched her head. "I wonder why…"

"Might be because as a monster, I only have one element to control whereas you, because of your determination, can bend more than one element."

"Well, you do have universe powers that I don't have, not to mention you can bend Earth! Pretty sure I can only bend air and fire," Frisk quickly said, trying to make Sans feel better.

He just nodded his skull before going through the gates again as if it was nothing. "He can go through those gates just fine though," pouted Frisk.

"The gate thing is something airbenders are good at because it takes airbending movements, but even some of the air acolytes can go through the gates. It's just to help the airbenders use their bending while having quick movement added to make dodging enemy attacks easier," explained Jinora. Frisk pouted even more. _I feel like me having more abilities than Sans will further cause a rift between us._

Zaheer forced a small smile on his face rather than a frown. _I need to dispatch of Korra soon so I can get rid of Frisk. With Frisk out of the way I'll be able to find the next Avatar and end the cycle for good._ But when Frisk turned to beam at him, his cold heart turned soft, just a tiny bit.

Sans and Frisk spent the next few hours just going through the gates while telling silly puns to each other until they were out of breath. They sat on the ground, drinking lychee juice.

"The sunset sure is beautiful," Sans commented.

"Mm," replied Frisk.

He looked over at Frisk and sighed. "I'd say we're making great strides, becoming friends again."

Frisk stopped smiling and turned to look at him. "Sans, I never stopped being your friend. I'm still here."

He looked away, surprised, as tears fell. "Hah...hah… You're still… my friend? Even after everything I did? B-but I should be judged. I should be judged for my every action. For every EXP I've earned."

Unable to let him feel like this, Frisk wrapped her arms around him. "But that wasn't you. That was someone else controlling you. Besides, they're gone now. You are yourself again. So let me be here for you. Let everyone else be there for you."

He sniffed, looking back up to see the sun slowly set over the horizon. He allowed himself to hug her back, and accept her in his life once again.

From his room, Zaheer watched them, feeling something different. He clutched his aching chest as he remembered his late friends and girlfriend. _Why did they have to die? Was it my fault, or was it Korra's fault? No. It was her friends' faults. The metal clan killed my girl, that firebender zapped Ming Hua, and the brothers ganged up on Ghazan, making him feel trapped. Does the Avatar cycle really need to end?..._ He looked out towards the stars and sighed, nodding. _Yes. The Avatar cycle must end. But should Korra die for being the Avatar?_

His mind wandered, thinking about her kind eyes and smile. _She could be a potential friend. But not if I end the Avatar cycle. Even though Harmonic Convergence is over, there might still be a way for me to rip her Avatar Spirit out of her. Without her knowing it's my doing… Sans is the key._

He looked down at the smiling skeleton and frowned. _Sorry friend. I need your assistance once more. After this, they will surely dispose of you._

Stretching, Sans walked down the men's hall with a newfound pep in his step.

"Hey," a voice whispered out.

Sans stopped and turned, seeing Zaheer through his doorway. He walked up, intrigued. "What's up?"

"Meet me at Xai Bau's Grove when you get to your room. I need to tell you something important."


	18. Chapter 18

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"Here I am. What's on your mind?" Sans stood in front of Zaheer at Xai Bau's Grove. Something about Zaheer just felt...off. _Maybe I should have pretended not to hear him and go to sleep._

Zaheer sat indian style under the tree, looking complacent. "First and foremost, what are these universe powers I keep hearing about?"

Sans' eye sockets widened. "I promise not to use them! I-I'm not dangerous...anymore." He looked at the ground, afraid of being judged. He didn't expect to feel comforting hands rest gently on his shoulders.

"I know you're not dangerous anymore. I just want to know what they were talking about."

Able to breathe again, Sans explained what they meant. "It's a dangerous power that I'd really not try and use again. It made me hallucinate."

"Hallucinate?" Zaheer cocked his head.

Sans looked up at him with sad eyes. "I thought I saw my Dad. He...looked extremely disappointed in me."

xxxxx

Frisk sat in her bed, holding her hand out, trying to produce a flame of her own. "Why is this so hard? If I can learn different elements, then maybe I can be a huge help to Korra." She grunted in frustration when her wrist started to feel an ache, and she finally laid back and closed her eyes. _I'll ask Mako to train me sometime. Or Korra._

xxxxx

"You thought you saw your father," Zaheer echoed.

"Yeah. But it's not possible since he's scattered through time and space."

"Hmm. Interesting. I shall take that into consideration." Zaheer's lips curled up as he suddenly grabbed Sans and threw him into the fog of lost souls. He then vanished from the spirit world and appeared right in front of Sans' body. Smiling widely, he jumped into the skeleton's body, and opened his eye sockets.

"Whoa… this is weird. Hehehe, I've never been a skeleton before. I need to preserve my body…" he got up and walked to his real room where his body sat, motionless. He grabbed his body, and went to the blind spot on the island. "There's no reason he shouldn't be able to bend another element. He showed potential." He looked at his bony hands and concentrated. The full moon shone on him, empowering the push and pull of the water.

Pretty soon he was pushing and pulling the water with ease, smiling like a lunatic. He stopped for a moment, and placed his body in the water. Waving his arms criss cross, he made the water circle around him. He blew, and the water froze into a sphere around him. "That should do it. Hmmm. They're gonna wonder where Zaheer went… I'll just say he went on a spirit world enlightenment journey. Yeah that should work."

He yawned suddenly as his eye sockets felt heavy. "Damn. I didn't think skeletons could feel this tired. Guess I should get some sleep."

With a quick smirk at his work, he crept back to Sans' room. He just now saw how messy it was. "So… messy, makes puns, and really cares about Frisk. This won't be too hard." He laid down on Sans' bed and closed his eyes, drifting off to sleep.

The next morning, Zaheer awoke to the sound of grunting from outside. He looked outside the window to see Frisk trying to learn how to produce her own flames under the teachings of Mako. He wagged his finger at her when she did something wrong and pinched the bridge of his nose while shaking his head.

With a loud yell, flames shot out of Frisk's mouth and fists, startling Mako. "Y-you did it. You did it! Even though you used anger to fuel your fire. Remember to fuel it from your breath. Breath is everything when it comes to firebending. So try to create a flame just from your breath."

Zaheer plopped himself down on a bench with some of the airbenders who got woken up early by the war cries.

"Morning, Sans. How'd you sleep?" Yawned Kai.

"I slept well. You?"

"Not that well. Having Zaheer here is putting me on edge." Kai yawned again, nearly falling asleep right then and there.

"Hmm. Zaheer isn't that bad honestly."

"He literally poisoned Korra and almost successfully suffocated her. And now he claims to be different. I'm sorry but I'm not buying it. Not yet."

Jinora and the others nodded.

"But didn't he help her regain her connection to the spirit world so she could face future enemies?"

"Big whoop. He just didn't want Kuvira to win."

Zaheer looked down and held his frustration in.

"Sans!"

He looked up to see Frisk running towards him, enveloping him in a bear hug. Smiling crookedly, he held her back tightly. _I haven't had a hug in so many years. This feels amazing._

"Good morning," she beamed.

"Morning, doll," he winked, causing her to blush. He chuckled at her cuteness. _I could enjoy being Sans for a while. Just to enjoy this friendship he has._

"Did you see the flames I shot out?" She quickly regained her composure as she jumped up and down excitedly while holding his hand.

"I saw! You're getting good. I uh, have some news to share though." She stopped jumping as he slowly stood, and bent a sliver of water over, and made the water dance in the air.

"You can waterbend! Amazing! Maybe all we can do is bend two elements then. Still pretty cool though, huh? I'm the air and fire while you're the Earth and water."

Zaheer shrugged. "Who knows? This is just the beginning after all. We could be destined for more greatness."

Wanting to make her laugh, he scooped her up in his arms and waterbent an iceboard. She clung to him while she laughed with glee. Seeing her in such a state, Zaheer couldn't help but laugh along. Mako and the others cheered them on from the distant shore.

xxxxx

Korra twiddled with her thumbs while Tenzin spoke his piece about how he felt Zaheer and Sans were doing. "What about you, Lin?" Korra rolled her eyes. _He's saving me for last because he knows I'm impatient. The bastard._

"I think Sans is adjusting well with the others, but as for Zaheer… he's been somewhat of a loner. Even when he sits among the others, he's quiet."

Raiko nodded. "He might be planning something. Keep a closer eye on him." He glanced over at Korra who had quickly turned her head away to look indifferent. "Wu, what's your input?"

"I say I still don't trust either of them! Put them back in jail!"

Raiko and the others raised their eyebrows. "So, you're saying you see no progress from either of them?"

"Well, no. Not exactly. Sans definitely is fitting in," Wu admitted while glaring. "But Zaheer is definitely up to something. He's been too quiet and in his own world."

"Maybe he's just slower at getting used to living among others. Keep in mind he's used to solitude. So maybe it's comforting to him to be alone. I'm sure he is happy to be free though," Izumi spoke up.

The others thought about that for a moment. Raiko glanced over at Korra again before sighing. "Korra?"

She rolled her eyes again, but smiled as she was happy to finally be able to say something. "They are both doing just fine, learning to fit in at their own pace. I have faith in Sans and Zaheer. I really feel they will make an impact on the world. I mean no disrespect towards Lord Zuko, but this will be an even more memorable moment in history than him choosing to aid Aang."

Raiko facepalmed. "I knew I shouldn't have asked for your input."

"Well tough. I'm the Avatar so I would have given it anyway."

"I don't care if you're the Avatar, you must-" his words were cut off as white eyed Korra lifted him up in the air with one hand.

"You must keep in mind who I am as the Avatar. I keep the world balanced and in peace. You WILL respect me and what I do. From here on out, you listen to me and I say we continue to give Sans and Zaheer a second chance."

Raiko, despite being incredibly intimidated, closed his eyes for a moment before replying. "And if this fails, it will be all your fault. Korra, you may not believe it, but the reason I had been the one making the decisions was to save you from the burden of responsibility. I've been trying to protect you. You wanna wear the big boy pants now and run things? Fine! See how well that goes for you! I hope you think things through first, for your sake."

She set him back down in his chair and got eye level with him. "I'm not a reckless teen anymore. I grew up. It's literally my job to make important decisions now. So stay out of my way unless you're just trying to help."

Without another word she walked out of city hall and started towards Air Temple Island.


	19. Chapter 19

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 _She's nice, and doesn't cling to me. Sure, she gets excitable, but she gives me my space most of the time. This is… perfect._ He sipped his soup while watching Frisk from the corner of his eye sockets. She slowly ate her food without making a sound, eyes closed to enjoy the flavor. He couldn't help but smile. _How can a mere child make me feel happy? How can a mere child brighten my days? Have I just been incredibly lonely? Do I still need to end the Avatar cycle?_

He thought back to what started it all.

 **He and P'Li walked down the Fire Nation streets hand in hand, laughing at jokes they told each other. P'Li blushed with what she was about to say.**

 **"Uhm, thank you again for saving me from being the general's war machine. I…" tears started to pour down her face, "I don't want to be a combustion bender. Do you think if we find the Avatar, that I can be rid of this cursed element?"**

 **Though she was taller than him, he reached up and cupped her cheek and stared into her eyes lovingly. "The element is not a curse, P'Li. It is your gift. The only curse are people like him who are in charge. See these people around us?"**

 **She looked around at all the different people and nodded.**

 **"These people don't have a care in the world, because they think they have free will. They think they make all the choices for themselves. But they don't. The people in charge do. True order doesn't look so orderly. True order is disorder. Survival of the fittest."**

 **He moved to take her hands in his, and kiss the tops of her hands. "Will you help me free everyone? Even from the Avatar?"**

 **"B-but wouldn't Aang just stop us? He defeated Ozai during Sozin's comet after all," nervously asked P'Li.**

 **Zaheer chuckled. "I am not stupid, my dear. We will wait for him to die, and take the new Avatar when he is still a child. At the same time though, I won't make you do this if you don't want to. You are not a war machine after all. If you say no, I will still love you, and carry out my plans anyway but while allowing you to live a normal life. It is truly up to you."**

 **Without hesitating she bent down and kissed him passionately. She broke the kiss after a few seconds and smiled wide. "I'll help you free everyone from their gilded cage."**

Tenzin stood up once all the dishes have been collected. "It's such a nice day out. Who wants to take a walk to Avatar Korra park?"

"Isn't that a two hour walk?" Asked Otaku.

"Yes. This will be a great opportunity to practice breathing properly too."

Everyone groaned. Through Sans' features, Zaheer grimaced. _I miss flying already._ He was surprised to see Frisk look so determined. "You're not upset about a two hour walk to the park?"

"Not at all! I walked around the whole underground which, when going one way, is a three day walk. That's not including breaks though. It took me five days because of sleep, food, and bathroom breaks. But I still did it," she beamed.

"Did anyone force you to do that?"

"Sans, you know me. I chose to go to , and Toriel tried to keep me from leaving the Ruins. What I did, I did out of my own volition."

He put a hand to his chin. _She chose to do that? And someone even tried to hold her back._

"But you're going along this one because you have to," continued Zaheer.

"Well, not really. I'm just respecting Tenzin, and so are the others. We are still our own people and can choose to simply ignore him and do what we want. But out of kindness and respect, we all choose to follow him."

"What if President Raiko ordered you to do something you didn't want to do?"

"I would tell him I don't want to. Even if he jailed me, Korra would save me from the injustice."

"What if she couldn't? Like, hypothetically, what if there was no Avatar anymore?"

 _Sans really is inquisitive. I like this new side to him._

"If there was no Avatar anymore, then I would just bust myself out and find a way to get Raiko out of office peacefully. If I got everyone to vote on impeaching him, then we could find a new President."

"But why find a new President?"

"I don't know about you, but I don't want to be burdened with a whole city's political and financial stuff. It's a lot that I don't understand. But if we were to find a nice president, then all that can get done while the people enjoy their freedom."

Zaheer was at a loss for words. _Are nice leaders a thing that exists? Yes but...they are too rare in a world like this._

Everyone gathered together as they walked to the docks and boarded a boat to reach the mainland. Frisk walked over to the rail and took in the view. It filled her with determination. Zaheer saw a yellow light for just a moment, but chalked it up to the sun blinding him. He walked up and slid an arm around her waist and pulled her close. Her smile grew.

"I'm really glad to have you back, Sans. I was really worried for a while, ya know? But you've been really friendly so I guess all is well now."

Smiling, he rested his skull on her head. "Thanks for being my friend."

Midway to the shore, there was this nagging feeling in Zaheer's soul. He felt he needed to ask this. "Frisk, I really think Zaheer is a great guy. Would you want to be friends with him too?"

Frisk looked out and thought about it. "I'm not sure yet. I've heard some crazy things from the others, but he just seems lonely and kind of bitter now. Maybe if he actually showed up and participated in group activities, made an effort to get to know people and have fun, then I wouldn't feel such a strange presence from him anymore. Obviously he has to not hurt anyone either."

"Hmm. What if all he did was remove Raava from Korra? It would end the Avatar Cycle, but Korra would be unharmed. This is just hypothetical of course," he asked, sweating.

"But if he ended the Avatar cycle, that would be terrible. I would definitely not be his friend if he did that."

Sadness crossed his features. _Damn… I'm losing sight of my goals. Regardless of what this little girl says, I need to do this!_

xxxxx

In the fog of lost souls, Sans was stuck in a loop, fighting Chara, but without Chara being there. At the end of the sequence, he would clutch his chest like he had been slashed before it started over again.


	20. Chapter 20

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The boat reached the mainland where the airbenders and Zaheer exited the boat. "Alright group. Focus on your breathing while we walk!" Instructed Tenzin. "Feel free to join in Sans."

Zaheer almost didn't nod back but was glad he didn't forget. _If I go through with everything, how will I free my real body before they destroy Sans? I need to time things correctly…_ He almost fell over when a shoulder bumped into him. He expected it to be Frisk, but was disappointed to see Opal. Frisk was ahead of him just a little.

"Psst. Sans," whispered Opal.

"What?" He harshly asked. "Er, sorry." _I hate this. Why is this girl talking to me?_

A blush crossed Opal's features as she bit her lip. "You're kinda cute."

Zaheer almost stopped walking but was now being half dragged by Opal. "Don't want to make Tenzin stop," she whispered.

"Wh-wh-what makes you think me, a skeleton, is cute?" He asked. _I feel sick just thinking of anyone dating a skeleton._

"Your personality and you don't look like the typical skeleton. You look different. Cute," she expanded.

"Well I'm way too old for you," he responded, hoping that would get her away. "A-and aren't you with Bolin?"

Opal's blush disappeared and her features contorted into annoyance as she crossed her arms. "He never pays attention to me anymore. When we first met, he stumbled over his words and blushed a lot. He was charming. Now he's all about working alongside Mako and Korra and just doesn't make time for us anymore. I can't even remember the last time we had a date." By now she was sobbing into her hands, careful not to make a sound.

Uncomfortable, Zaheer looked around wildly to try and find a way to escape this situation. He sighed, knowing he might make things worse. But he didn't care. "Well, it doesn't sit right with me that you're throwing yourself at- THIS while you still have a boyfriend. Even if you were single, for your sake, I'd decline. I'm old as frick and not even human. Talk to him. Tell him you need his attention. Guys like him don't mean to be rude, he's just incredibly dense and doesn't use his head most of the time. I'm sure as soon as you tell him, he will smack his forehead, apologize profusely, and work harder at being your boyfriend. When you're with someone for so long, you get comfortable and forget how hard you had to work just to get them in the first place."

Opal wiped the last of her tears and looked up at him. "You sure?"

"Yeah. Heard that advice from Zaheer. Despite his past actions, he knows a lot about relationships. How do you think he was able to keep his girlfriend after they spent fifteen years away from each other?"

Opal's eyes sparkled as she clasped her hands together. "Oh yeah I forgot all about that. You just sold me on giving Zaheer another chance." She winked before bouncing up ahead. Zaheer just smiled until she turned away from him. _Did I just involuntarily give a therapy session to a girl who never even looked at Sans until today? What a wacko._

Frisk looked back at him and gave him a toothy grin which made his heart throb. _W-what is this feeling? No wait. I'm too old for her! I can't! I can't!_ Inwardly groaning at himself he looked away. _These must be Sans' natural thoughts colliding with mine. That's gotta be the reason for this._ He looked back up at her before blue tinted his cheek bones and he looked away again.

By the time they reached the park, Tenzin inhaled deeply then exhaled and turned to face the group to count everybody. "Has anyone seen Zaheer?"

Zaheer almost shouted 'I'm right here' but caught himself. Everyone looked at each other and asked if they had seen Zaheer.

"Not since yesterday…" some answered.

"Sans, have you seen Zaheer?" Frisk asked gently.

"Uh yeah. He told me he was going to fly around the world a bit, go on some spiritual enlightenment journey like the old airbenders used to do. I completely forgot to say something," lied Zaheer.

Frisk couldn't help but smile at that answer as she happily bounded towards Tenzin to give him the news. Tenzin teared up happily. "He really is trying. Alright everyone, go have fun! Just remember to meet up back here in an hour."

"Yes sir!"

Frisk was about to walk off with Opal and some other girls, but as if his hand had a mind of its own Zaheer reached out and grabbed her wrist. "Sans?"

"I-uh, don't really know anyone else. I don't want to be split up." She walked up and gave him a big hug. He held her back. From a distance, Kai and the his friends watched the two.

"Kinda looks like true love or somethin," Kai said casually as he bit into a papaya.

"Sans definitely likes her."

"But isn't he old or something?"

"Does age REALLY matter?"

"But he's a skeleton!"

"Shhhh don't be so loud." Kai smacked the guy who yelled, causing the others to laugh.

Zaheer didn't hear everything, but he heard enough, causing him to let go of Frisk and waterbend back to the island. Frisk marched over to the boys and placed her hands on her hips. "When we get back, I expect you guys to apologize to Sans. He's just been really worried about losing me so of course he's a little clingy right now. He's clinging onto me because we have a long history that started with him pranking me and sharing puns. He isn't like that. If he was then… honestly what's the harm in loving someone? As long as nothing happens."

"It's a bit hypocritical. He shot down Opal for their age difference, but you're younger than her," replied Kai.

"But you're assuming he likes me like that. All he did was hug me. If my father hugged me, would you accuse him of the same thing?"

"If your father looked at you the way he looked at you I would be heavily questioning him," Kai answered honestly. "It wasn't the action. It was his gaze and the way he blushed."

Zaheer made it back to Air Temple Island where he rushed straight to Sans' room and meditated into the spirit world. "What is WRONG with ME?! She's a child!"

 **"Ending the Avatar Cycle is terrible. If he did that, I definitely wouldn't be his friend."**

 **"Definitely wouldn't be his friend."**

 **"His friend."**

 **"His friend."**

He grabbed at his head, forgetting he wasn't inside a skeleton anymore, as evident by his hair startling him. He brought his hands down to examine the wrinkles and calluses upon calluses.

"Old. I'm just plain old." He sat against the tree. _Maybe I should stay in here for the rest of my miserable existence._

"Do you want a second chance at life and love? To be able to truly live the way you should have? Before the incident?" Zaheer looked up and saw a man much older than him, but he recognized him from the history books.

"Iroh? What do you mean?" Zaheer stood up and bowed to his elder.

"I mean, there's a spirit who can replenish your youth fountain. If you want, I can take you there. But only if you promise not to break the Avatar cycle. The thing is, you're not the first to try and break the Avatar cycle, however, you won't be the last. So if you continue down this destructive path, you will only fail and bring heartache to yourself. You will lose her."

"But how can I just forget all the times that damn guy didn't do something? His people were suffering, and he didn't do a damned thing. Things only got better when I assassinated him!"

"Because he was an evil man who abused his power. The Avatar on the other hand, does the exact opposite. Korra uses Raava's light to help guide the world towards peace and balance. That was achieved when she brought you and Kuvira down," Iroh explained. "Some people need to be in charge. It's all about balance."

For the first time in Zaheer's life, he let the past be the past, and he walked with Iroh.

xxxxx

Sans lay on the ground, out of breath. "I'm goin….to Grillby's…...Papyrus…..do you…...want…...anything?"


	21. Chapter 21

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Zaheer walked with Iroh down a windy path that made them feel like they've been walking forever. "By the way, don't forget to free Sans. It would not be wise to keep him trapped. To ensure your victory, keep reminding yourself that you are a changed man," warned Iroh.

"Right. How much younger do you think this spirit will make me? I am currently 56," asked Zaheer.

"I am not sure. Maybe she will make you 15. Maybe she will make you 30. It all depends," replied Iroh.

Zaheer pouted as he continued to follow close behind. "Not really helpful if she makes me 30."

"She's a spirit. She could care less about mortal feelings," laughed Iroh. "We are here. Behold, the age spirit, Epoch."

Zaheer looked up and it took all he had not to drop his jaw. She was more than gorgeous as her golden locks flowed all the way past her form and created what looked like a golden river. The light from the sky made it sparkle, adding even more beauty. "Hello my dear. How are you today?" Asked Iroh as he smiled big and wide.

Epoch turned away from her garden and warmly smiled at Iroh. "I'm okay. Just tending to my garden, keeping the flowers from wilting. They're so pretty," she replied, her voice a haunting echo through the field. "Is this a friend of yours?"

"Epoch, this is Zaheer. He is in his fifties, but would like to be a teenager again."

Epoch looked at Zaheer once before stroking a flower lovingly which swayed against her touch. "For what purpose?"

Iroh was surprised she would even ask. "He has fallen in love with someone younger than him."

Epoch gasped and clutched at her chest, looking up wistfully. "Ah, the beauty and confusion of true love! On the one hand, it is beautiful because it is love. On the other hand, it's confusing because of what society's laws are, and for good reason! Hmmm. I shall do it. I am a sucker for true love. But, you will still carry the knowledge and wisdom you have gained over the years. Is that acceptable?"

Zaheer thought about it for a moment. He nodded. "I really like the gray streaks in your hair, makes you look nice, so you will keep the gray. Trust me, she'll love it," winked Epoch. He shrugged at that.

"Just as long as I get to be with her. That's all that matters."

"Alright! I'll make you sixteen again!" Epoch leaned forward and planted a kiss on Zaheer's head. As if by magic, his body grew a few inches taller, his muscles leaned out a bit, the wrinkles in his skin disappeared, and overall, he just looked younger. Putting a finger on her chin in thought, she tapped his hair to put it up in a ponytail.

He wanted to complain about the gray in his hair, but knew better than to argue with a powerful spirit who has control over his age. "How old do you think I'll live to be?"

"Don't worry about that. Just know your life will be much longer than it was. Have fun," she winked.

He quickly went back to Sans' body. He opened his eye sockets and saw Mako standing in the doorway.

"Nice meditation?" He asked before entering the room. "What are you up to?"

"I was just talking to Zaheer. He said he is on his way back and to warn everyone he looks a bit different. He met Epoch, the spirit of age. He's sixteen now," replied Zaheer.

Mako looked dumbfounded. "He's younger now? Huh. That's gonna be an adjustment. Anything else?"

"Nope," he smiled. "Anything you need?"

Backing out of the room slowly, Mako shook his head a bit. "Nah. But Frisk was worried about you."

Later that night, Zaheer went underground to get to the island's blind spot. He swayed his arms around, bringing his original body - still trapped in ice - up. He melted his body and brought himself back to Sans' room where he then locked the door. He sat on the bed and meditated back into the spirit world, and jumped right into the fog of lost souls.

"I am a changed man! I am Zaheer!" He shouted.

Much to his relief, the fog cleared so he could clearly see Sans who was slumped over in a sitting position. Striding over to him, he picked him up and walked right out of the fog.

"Zaheer? What's going on?" Yawned Sans.

"I'm sorry for wronging you. I promise I'll start treating you better," apologized Zaheer.

Sans looked down but nodded.

"Fair warning. Frisk may like you now…"

"What?! Why?"

"Because I've been flirting with her through you…"

Sans was about to point out his age until he saw no wrinkles. He couldn't help but laugh at how cute the situation was. Red covered Zaheer's cheeks. "C-come on man, don't laugh. It's uncool."

"I'm sorry but it's just so funny! So if she does have a crush on me, what do I say?"

"Tell her you were just being friendly because you're still adjusting to this world," Zaheer replied flatly, already jealous of Sans.

"Dang. I'm younger than you but even I know not to go for kids. But now yer a kid!"

They faded with Zaheer leering at Sans who just waggled his brow bones. Once they entered their respective bodies, Sans continued to laugh. Zaheer just shook his head.

"Y'know. You look pretty good with the gray hair kept. Maybe trim it down though so you don't look like a guy who escaped jail," suggested Sans. He flicked a tear away.

Zaheer felt his luscious hair and sighed. "Trimming it. Yeah. I think I'll do that."

He floated back to his room so not to wake anyone up as Sans fell right asleep in his bed, happy to be out of the fog, away from Chara. He dreamt about Zhao the Moon Slayer. Zhao sat on a crescent moon with a fishing rod as he shouted, "I am Zhao the Conquerer. I am the Moon Slayer! I will capture the Avatar!"


	22. Chapter 22

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Sans watched from afar as Zaheer walked up to Frisk with a lily in his hand behind his back. His smile turned as he felt his stomach churn. _He's an old man in a young body! Why did I ever like those vampire romance stories Frisk shared? Now they're wrong…_

"Oh there were many things wrong with that movie now that I think about it." He shook his skull before looking back up to see Zaheer bend down and smile.

"Hello little lady," smiled Zaheer.

Frisk looked up at this tall teenager who looked like Zaheer, but with shorter hair. "I'm sorry who are you?" She tilted her head.

"It's me, Zaheer. I got this for you while I was gone." He handed her the flower.

She looked at the lily but thought of Sans and how he suddenly seemed distant. She looked over at the skeleton and her heart dropped when he turned his skull. "Sorry Zaheer but… I like someone else. But he doesn't like me back…" she flew away with tears in her eyes.

Zaheer walked over towards Sans and sighed, twirling the lily in his fingers. "No luck with the kid?"

"No luck yet. She's hooked on you." Zaheer frowned.

Sighing, Sans put a hand on Zaheer's shoulder. He looked over and shuddered when Sans looked at him with a frown, and his eye lights missing. "Move on. Find someone your age. Your REAL age."

"Sorry I can't. I lo-" Zaheer was cut off by a slap. Everyone gasped and crowded them.

"Don't say it! It's wrong! You're wrong!"

He snapped his fingers, but nothing was summoned. _Crap, I forgot in the midst of my anger._

Wiping his mouth, Zaheer stood back up. "I can understand why you did that."

"Of course you can! Because you're experienced in life. A normal teenager would have yelled at me and made it clear they didn't understand. But you know I'm right."

"What's going on here?" Jinora pushed her way through the crowd to see at the center was an angry Sans, and an apologetic Zaheer.

"Tell her, Zaheer. Tell her how you like someone younger than her. She's a teenager by the way!"

"Zaheer?"

"Yes. I, a sixteen year old, like someone a bit younger than me. Happy?"

Jinora grabbed Zaheer by the arm and roughly pulled him. "You need to talk to my father about this." Her voice held some anger in it. Zaheer just shook his head in annoyance.

 _Why am I facing such issues with this? I'm young!_

Tenzin put his glasses down after having thought about the situation. Jinora stood by with her arms crossed, waiting for her father to say something. _He's gotta be against this atrociousness._

"Zaheer…"

He looked up at Tenzin expectantly. Tenzin folded his aged hands.

"What exactly do you feel for Frisk?"

Zaheer frowned. "Sorry but that's a trick question. I cannot put how I feel about her into mere words, it's impossible!"

A smile graced Tenzin's features before he leaned forward. "You love her then, don't you?"

"Y-yes." Zaheer hid his burning face by looking down.

"Who am I or the Air Nation to stand in the way of love? I've read up on the spirit Epoch. For the longest time she couldn't care less about mortals or their lifespans. Until one day, she saw a rare flower at the top of a volcano. From far away, she watched the flower produce more of its kind naturally in a place that is very dangerous. This put her in a state of awe. She shed her first tear when the first of the flowers wilted. So she reversed its age. Time passed, and she watched a mortal man climb the volcano. She smiled when he cried tears of happiness after finding the flower. This is what he said:"

 **"Now I can use this flower to show the one I love how rare and beautiful she is to me."**

Jinora was sat by Zaheer, listening intently to the story as Zaheer was also leaned forward, drawn in by the lore. Tenzin continued.

"He picked the flower that she had brought back from the dead, so she followed the man as he made his way back to the village. He wasn't very good looking, and he was in rags. But she saw he was very much in love and willing to go to great lengths for his love. The man found the woman he loves, and presented the flower to her. The woman was beautiful and part of the royal family as was evident by her emerald gown and golden earrings and crown. The next month they got married, and Epoch watched from afar. This inspired her to help use her powers for humans to find true love."

"That was beautiful," sighed Jinora before looking at Zaheer. "I guess she really wanted you to be happy."

He smiled and walked to the window where he saw Frisk holding onto Sans' hand. Sans, on the other hand, was uncomfortable, trying to shrug her off him. He even took out condiments and downed them before baring dirty teeth to her in a wide grin! But she was determined to regain what she thought they once had.

"That's if she even likes me," slumped Zaheer.

Tenzin walked over to see what the issue was. "She likes a skeleton? What is this world coming to?"

"It's kinda my fault. There was an accident returning to our bodies from the spirit world and i took over his body. Now she likes Sans because I flirted with her through him," explained Zaheer.

"I see." Blue tinted Tenzin's face as he imagined Sans flirting with Frisk. "All I can say is don't give up. Keep doing what you were doing, but as yourself now. Take her on flights or something. Show her what she fell for."

"Yeah! That's a great idea!" Zaheer jumped but fell back on the floor. "Oh no…"

"It's because you have an Earthly attachment. You can't fly anymore," explained Jinora.

"I guess being out of the void is a good thing," said Zaheer, rubbing his bottom.

In the void…

"Yeah being out of the void is a good thing. Gets lonely," said Gaster as he sipped his tea.

Zaheer bowed to Tenzin and Jinora, thanking them for their advice as he walked down stairs and outside. Steeling his nerves, he walked up to Frisk who was sitting real close to Sans. This bothered him and Sans for two different reasons.

"Frisk?" His tone was gentle like the waves. His heart skipped a beat when she looked up at him. "W-would you like to accompany me on a stroll through the city? I want to get to know it a bit more since I'm free."

"Sans, would you like to-"

"No thanks, kid. Have fun," quickly replied Sans.

Frisk pouted but grabbed onto Zaheer's hand, and the two headed for the boat.


	23. Chapter 23

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The wind gently blew Frisk's hair which now reached a bit past her shoulders. She looked over at Zaheer who held onto her hand tightly, making it impossible to yank her hand away. "Why'd you want me to accompany you?" Frisk asked, ignoring the warmth his hand brought. It sent shivers down her spine.

"We have a lot in common, and I want to be your-" he paused and blushed, then coughed to cover up the pause, "friend. Society frowns upon an adult being friends with a younger person, so I found the spirit of age to make me young again. Plus now, I'll be able to do all the things I never got to do the first time around."

Frisk's heart warmed at how hopeful Zaheer sounded and looked, but tore her eyes away when he smiled down at her. _Gah, why is he so hot? Why am I attracted to older guys?_ "So, I guess I'm just excited to be able to make a friend while pursuing my dreams. What's your dream?" Zaheer finished.

"I'm not sure. For the longest time, my dream had been to save the monsters from their underground prison. We all thrived on the surface, but the slow, peaceful times bored me. It was always so much fun to befriend them all that I kept redoing it. I loved trying out new dialogue, new ideas, so much so, that I learned a lot about them as individuals. I didn't want to keep them from their own dreams for too long, but I was still so bored…" Frisk sighed and looked down out of shame. Zaheer squeezed her hand reassuringly.

"Hey, why're you crying? You didn't hurt nobody, did you?"

"No," her voice cracked with emotion, "but I left my friends behind because I wanted to keep saving people. I left them all behind with no way to return."

Zaheer thought back to when he saw Sans in the swamp. Behind Sans had been some portal. _Should I tell her? What if she leaves and doesn't come back? …. She should know._ "There is a way for you to go home. I saw it in the swamp."

Just then Frisk remembered the device Alphys gave her in the beginning and how it said to go to the swamp. "C-can you show me the swamp?"

Zaheer sighed. "If you leave…" Frisk tilted her head as she watched him struggle to ask as his mouth kept trying to form words. "Will you come back?"

Frisk sat there on the bench and stared at Korra's statue. _I've learned so much since being here, but I also inadvertently hurt Sans by him following after me. He's doing better now, but I really should send him back. I know he misses Papyrus. If I'm being honest, I miss the monsters in general._

"You can come with me if you want," Frisk offered. "I just need to get Sans home. I feel he might be happier if he was back with the other monsters. Then, you'd be able to meet all my friends!" She suddenly had the biggest smile on her face as she pulled on Zaheer. The two used their wingsuits to fly back to the island. Frisk told the airbenders what they were about to do.

"But, Sans knew about the portal and hasn't left. Do you think he even wants to leave anymore?" Ryu chimed in as he flipped his blond hair.

She hadn't thought about that, so she went to Sans' room and knocked on the door. "Come in."

The door creaked open and Frisk walked in. "You're not gonna flirt with me, are ya? I really don't-" Frisk held up a hand and shook her head.

"No. The constant rejection was too much anyway. Zaheer told me about the portal in the swamp. Does it lead home?"

"I'm not a hundred percent, but it's highly likely. You want to go home?" He stood up, placing his hands on his hips, eyeing her suspiciously.

"I only want to visit, because I miss the monsters. But, I know for a fact you wanted to go home. Do you still want to go home?"

Sans wasn't even sure anymore. _I have a new power here, and even though my friendship with Frisk is strained, we were starting to work on it. But my bro… he's probably been worried sick. I should go back for his sake._ He looked at her with sad sockets and nodded.

"Hey, don't look so down. If the portal is still there, you can always come back," Frisk smiled.

He only shook his head. "Once I go home, I'm not coming back to this world."

"Ever?" Frisk's voice cracked.

"Ever. Sorry kiddo, but this world turned me into someone I'm not. I want to be who I used to be. I want to be your friend again. I can't do that here. Ya understand me?"

She sniffed but nodded. "I'll be visiting for a bit and I'll introduce Zaheer to the monsters. He talked about being my friend, so I want him to know my friends who helped me to turn into who I am today."

"We still don't know if the portal will be there so let me go through first. Wait a full minute before going through to see if it shrinks or anything. When are we going?"

"Whenever you're ready."

Sans made a boat out of ice. Frisk and Zaheer gave themselves an air boost up onto it. "Bye everyone! See you soon!" Frisk waved. The airbenders, Mako, Bolin, Korra, Raiko, and the other world leaders waved them goodbye.

"It seems the skeleton is leaving. Do you think he'll come back?" Asked Raiko.

Korra shrugged. "Can't say. All I do know is his aura feels healthier. I don't think we have anything to fear now."

Suddenly, the ground shook a bit. "Did you guys feel that?" Asked Kai. It shook again, this time rocking the boat.

"What in the world?" Frisk ran over to the edges of the boat to look around. But she saw nothing. The next shake knocked everyone over.

"I'm going to find out what's doing that," announced Korra, opening her glider. She flew off the ground and landed on top of Aang's statue, and looked around. What she saw shook her to her very core. _The mecha giant is back?! With angry spirits too… this is bad!_

"Sans, you keep going. I think this place… might be in danger. I don't want to stop you from being happy a-"

"Kid, yer my best friend. If this world is in danger, I'm staying to help. My bro's a big boy. He can hold out a little longer," winked Sans. Waving his arms, he turned the boat around. He swung them wildly to propel the boat at a quicker pace. Frisk looked up and saw a form on top of Aang's statue.

"I'm going to go see who's up there and if they know anything." Spreading her arms, she kicked off the boat and soared in the skies. _Huh? It's Korra._ She heard yet another loud sound. Looking down, she winced at how much the water rippled and splashed. _That must have been a big one. I hope everyone's okay._

"Korra! What's going on?"

All the Avatar could do was point ahead.

"A mecha giant and spirits? Can't the giant be metalbent?"

"Platinum is unbendable. And Asami doesn't have hummingbird suits, nor do I expect her to build one right away and add a plasma saw onto it. We need to find a different way to break in. I have a hunch it might be Kuvira…"


	24. Chapter 24

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With every step the giant took, everyone fell. No one bothered to stand back up anymore as every time they fell, it hurt. Sans and Zaheer made it back to land drenched from the waves. They crawled as quickly as they could over to the others.

"I don't understand why it's making everything shake this much!" Cried Frisk.

"It's gotta have more metal inside it or something. Or maybe the spirits simply made it more powerful would be my guesses. Either way, this can't be good," frowned Korra.

"Sans? Why are you still here?" Asked Raiko.

"Because I want to help!"

"You can help by sending whatever is doing this into the void!" Raiko replied. Sans made a face. "I'm not being passive aggressive. I mean it!"

"Look that's only a last resort. If we can solve this without doing such a thing, that would be great."

Raiko rolled his eyes. "Great, now you're a pacifist when we need you the most."

"I'm done laying around!" Pushing off the ground, Meelo spread his arms and began to fly up on top of the temple. "Guys! Get up here!"

Jinora, Tenzin, and Bumi all flew up to see the monstrosity Meelo was witnessing. "Are those… dark spirits?" Tenzin's brows furrowed.

"But didn't Korra beat Vaatu?" Bumi scratched his head, confused.

"Unfortunately light cannot defeat darkness anymore than darkness can defeat light. One cannot exist without the other," responded Tenzin.

"Well that's just great!"

In the swamp, Toph shook, causing her vision of the mech to be a bit blurry. "This… this is nothing compared to what the gaang and I had to face during our time. Korra should have closed those damn spirit portals!"

Frisk looked at everything as she tried to formulate a plan. She looked at the spirit portal in the middle of Republic City. Her eyes lit up like a Christmas tree.

"Korra! Let's push the spirits into the portal, then you close it on them so all we have to face is just the mecha giant."

"Okay but how will we stop the mecha giant without plasma saws?"

"I'm not sure! Let's cross that bridge when we get to it! For now I'll just save." She held out her hand and focused. Straining, she focused harder, but nothing came forth. "I can't…."

"Doesn't matter! Let's go!" Korra stood, activated her Avatar State, and pushed the mecha giant over with a powerful air blast. Using fire she shot fire jets from her feet and hands, propelling her into the air as she began to force the spirits back and spread them apart.

"As for my part, I need to regroup and try to find a way to stop that giant," Frisk mumbled to herself, but her eyes bugged out of her head when she saw Sans leading everyone into the city, running full speed ahead. As quick as she could, she dove right down in front of them, causing them all to stop abruptly. "We need to find a way to stop that giant. Korra says it's made of platinum, so it can't be metalbent."

"And we don't have pocket plasma saws either," frowned Wu.

"Then what if we send it to the spirit world and trap it in the tree of time until we can think of something?" Asked Bolin.

"Because then it'll just be there until the next Harmonic Convergence. We'll be setting that Avatar up for failure by giving them a reborn Vaatu as well as a giant platinum mech. We need to take that thing down today," said Jinora.

"I think I can be of help." Everyone turned to see Asami walking towards them with a roll of blueprints in her hand. She unrolled them to show what she thought of. "As soon as I saw that thing from my window, I began thinking of how to cut into it given how much little time we have til it reaches us. Plasma swords. You can carry them and they cut right into platinum. All you have to do is immobilize it and slash your way in, then take out whoever is controlling it."

"Have you made them yet?" Asked Frisk.

"I started working on them. Varrick is currently helping. But I saw you all coming so I knew I needed to let you all in on this. Quickly, make your way to Korra and give her some aid! I have to get back."

Zaheer and Frisk picked up Sans and flew over to where Korra was still pushing the angry spirits back with air. As soon as they landed, Frisk trapped a handful of spirits within an air vortex while Korra used water to calm the spirits. Once they were calm, Frisk sent them through the spirit portal. In the midst of doing this for every few dark spirits that just kept coming towards them, they didn't hear or see the giant get up, nor did they hear its weapon load.

Sans pushed Korra out of the way just before the spirit beam could reach her.

"SAAAANS!"

Her screams rang out throughout the entire city. His soul was still there, if not for just a few more moments before it shatters. Without hesitation, Frisk grabbed his soul and held it in front of her soul. Korra, Zaheer, everyone else, and even the dark spirits watched as Frisk's hair flew from the energy emanating from the fusion process. Sans' soul shone a bright white before slipping right into Frisk's chest, turning her soul a hot pink.

Frisk's hair lost all color, turning completely white, and it grew down to her back. She grew a few inches taller, her skin turned almost white, one eye became an icy blue, and her once stoic expression spread into a huge smile.

"What is this," whispered Raiko.

"I am now Frans! Yeah!" Shouted Frans.

They turned their attention back to the group of dark spirits and immediately bent water around them, purifying multiple spirits at once like Korra had done. Frans stomped their foot, demolishing several buildings that were in the way, and sent the spirits through the spirit portal using air.

"Stop destroying buildings this instant!" Commanded Raiko.

They sharply turned to look at Raiko, their eyes a bright white and blue. They were in front of Raiko in seconds after propelling themselves forward with firebending, and they gripped onto his tie, pulling him forward. "If you want your city protected, some sacrifices are needed. Like when Sans sacrificed himself to save your precious Avatar."

While Korra and the airbenders kept the spirits back as much as they could while dodging the mecha giants' attacks, Frans meditated, sending a psychic wish to the greater being. The greater being heard their wish, and contacted the annoying dog.

"Bork!" Using its tiny legs as fast as it could, the annoying dog dropped the legendary artifact into the Avatar world.

It dropped right in front of the world leaders, confusing them. "What is this?" Asked Tenzin.

"The source of monster magic. Protect it!" Shouted Frans as a blue flame spouted from their blue eye. They snapped their fingers, summoning bones and gaster blasters. "Let's dance."


	25. Chapter 25

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Bones circled around Frans as they flew from the fire under their feet. Below them, Korra and her friends struggled to keep calming seemingly endless spirits. Frans used the bones to circle around half the spirit army, rounding them up. From the corner of their eye the mech giant marched towards them before it stopped, and loaded its weapon.

"Not this time, punk," growled Frans as they raised a hand, and a Gaster Blaster got in front of them. It opened its large mouth, gathered magical energy, and fired at the same time the mech shot spirit energy at them. The two energies collided. It was so strong, that Frans had to stop controlling the bones to focus solely on the Gaster Blaster.

From below Zaheer and the others looked up, watching this fusion of a determined airbending master and a once criminal skeleton use magic in order to save their world. "At this rate it'll just be a stalemate! We need more power…" Frans looked below them at all the faces they had grown to know and care for. "I need to be stronger for them. For them!" From their chest, their combined souls glowed bright that it nearly blinded the others, and the blaster shot off ten times more energy, having completely knocked back the giant.

They used this moment to grab the metal structure from within a nearby building, flew towards the giant and began slashing at it.

"Looks like someone upgraded its speed. It's dodging those attacks like they're nothing," murmured Jinora.

They growled out of anger and frustration before they used the metal to wrap around the giant. Once it fell over, they got on top of it and looked inside the window. There was a woman dressed in prison clothing. But she was in tears and looked scared, and for a good reason too. Evil spirits were moving her limbs by constantly jumping in and out of her so they can control her but without killing her. It was still taking a toll on her body.

"PLEASE HELP ME! THEY WON'T STOP AND I'M DYING!" She screamed out at the fusion for help. Her long black hair covered parts of her face but her eyes held so much fear in them.

"The Avatar and her friends must perish," cackled a spirit as it knocked Frans off the mech.

Frans skid across the ground before they opened a hole and disappeared underground and reappeared behind the spirit and knocked it back with an air blast. The spirit got knocked all the way back near a bridge with water underneath it. Moving their arms gracefully, they used the water to purify the spirit and sent it back to the spirit world.

The group ran towards Frans as they slumped over, disgusted with what they saw. It struck a cord within them that they began clutching at their soul. It felt like something was stabbing it.

"What's wrong?!" Asked Zaheer.

"Talk to us!" Jumped in Jinora.

"Asami said she'll have the sword ready soon so you can take down whoever is driving that thing," added Wu.

Frans just cried even more before they looked at the group with pain filled eyes. "There is indeed a woman criminal in that giant. But the spirits are forcing her to attack! They're slowly killing her. We need to get in there now! Who knows how much more she can endure."

This news shocked everyone as was evident by the way their mouths opened. "For now, I need all the airbenders to help me and Korra round up the spirits that are outside so we can force them back to the spirit world. Once they're in there I can close the portal temporarily so we can focus on saving that woman. Come on!"

Without another moment's hesitation all the airbenders jumped up and into the sky. Frans could see the metal was still holding the mech down. For now. There were spirits clawing away at the metal, slowly chipping away at it. Korra was getting more and more tired as she kept purifying spirit after spirit. Her whole body was shaking.

"Go into the Avatar State!" Shouted Mako as he fired off at yet another spirit.

"My vision is blurry. I'm getting weaker and weaker… I need to make sure that if I use that power, I won't get killed! But these spirits are not to be taken lightly. At any moment, one of them could get me and it would be over." In need of a breather she created a vortex to lift herself off the ground. Heaving and coughing, she shook in midair.

"Now!" Shouted Frans.

All the airbenders circled around the insanely large group of spirits, encasing them in a tornado that carried them high into the air. However, one of them fell out of the vortex and jumped right into Korra's tired body. Her body naturally tried to activate the Avatar State in an effort to keep her alive.

"Korra no!" Screamed Mako.

"Korra! Fight it out!" Screamed Frans.

"Ah! That's not!" *flash* "How spirits! Gah!" *flash* "Work! Someone just! End me now!" *flash* "Before- AH! The cycle- gah! Breaks!"

Her head thrashed around violently as she went in and out of the Avatar State. Knowing she wouldn't be able to fight it for long, Zaheer grabbed her head and jerked it roughly, successfully killing Korra before the spirit could kill her in the Avatar State.

He wasn't expecting to be tackled by Frans and repeatedly punched in the face. Tears streamed down their face as their eye had a bright blue flame coming out of it. He quickly grabbed their hands and pinned them to the ground. "I had to in order to protect the Avatar cycle. If I hadn't killed her, she would have died in the Avatar State, and there would be no new Avatar. After this fight is over, we can rest easy knowing the cycle continues. Now, ready to stop these spirits?"

Zaheer got off Frans, giving them a hand up. They sniffed and nodded their head, understanding him a lot better.

"Not before I give you this!" They turned around and lo and behold, there was Asami carrying a sword with a light blue aura. She handed it to Frans.

"Let's go!" Frans grabbed Zaheer's hand and the two of them flew up in the air. Over at the spirit portal the airbenders constantly sent blasts of air to keep the spirits in, knowing full well what happened to Korra could happen to them at any moment.

 _She put her life on the line for us airbenders since day one. We need to return the favor!_

Frans could feel their determination and resolve. It sent adrenaline pumping through their veins. Gripping the sword, they landed on a building and used the metal to propel them through the air like a bullet towards the giant.


	26. Chapter 26

AMS

Frans pushed against the wind with the flames from their feet to come to a stop and land on top of the mech without shaking it too much. For her sake. They looked through the window and there she was. Her hair was even more of a mess due to her intense perspiration, her skin was paler than last time, and she had grey bags under her dull green eyes. She couldn't speak, nor could she even look straight ahead at them without swaying. She shakily reached out to them, sobbing as she felt her life slip away more and more.

Determined to save this woman, they plunged the sword into the bottom of the top and sliced a hole big enough for them to jump into. They metalbent the hatch open and jumped right in. Before the spirits could even think about jumping right back into Kuvira, Frans pulled her into their arms and jumped out of the suit. Using fire from their feet, they flew away from the spirits and into Asami's office.

"Whoa! F-Frisk?" Shouted Varrick who was busy working on a second sword.

"Yes, but no. Kuvira she… was forced by the spirits. Her health is low. I can see it. Please help her!"

Asami quickly dropped her blueprints and ran right over to Kuvira. "She's suffering from a spiritual attack. Since you fused with Sans you can bend all four elements, right?" Frans nodded, unsure of where Asami was going with this. "You need to go into the spirit world through the portal with her and put her in spirit water. Not the lake of prayers, but the one in front of the Tree Of Time. Bend the water to heal her spirit."

"I've never healed using water before…" Asami grabbed their shoulders and looked them square in the eyes. Her emeralds danced with emotion.

"I know you can do it. Just focus on her energy when you do it. Focus on saving her. Now go! You're running out of time."

They grabbed Kuvira again and set her over their shoulder. They made a mad dash toward the window they burst through and jumped, forming an air vortex under them.

"S… av…." Kuvira lifelessly choked out. Frans shushed her gently.

"Save your strength. It's going to be okay."

A few tears fell from her even more faded green eyes, but Frans kept her from closing them as they kept talking to her. They told her a story about Frisk and Sans and how they found this world. It was so interesting that Kuvira couldn't help but listen. Whenever they saw her eyes droop, they raised their voice, alarming her eyes back open. _Almost to the spirit portal. Just a bit farther!_

The airbenders below looked up and saw Frans go through. They abruptly stopped bending but stayed on their feet, ready to defend if necessary. Zaheer was still sending spirits through the portal. Frans gently set Kuvira down in the water. Her health continued to fall. _Focus on her energy, huh? Maybe like this?_

From inside Kuvira, her soul glowed. _She has a dark green soul. But I can tell it's supposed to be a lighter green._

From all around them, Frans saw the spirits coming for them. _Crap! This is bad._ They immediately smiled when Zaheer, Jinora, Ikki, Meelo, and Tenzin all rushed in and stood around Frans, defending them from oncoming spirits. Thanks to them, Frans was able to concentrate on bending the water side by side. At first, all it did was sway Kuvira around a bit.

 **"Focus on her energy. You can do this."**

Those words did something to Frans as a blue flame ignited from their eye, and their heart swelled with overflowing determination. The water now glowed a bright blue as it began to slowly heal Kuvira's spirit. Little by little, her soul turned back to its natural hue. The angry spirits were closing in as well, but Frans didn't stop the healing process as they were so close to saving her.

Zaheer grunted as he sent air blast after air blast. Sweat poured down Tenzin's head and into his beard. Jinora felt uncomfortable with how much she was pushing herself, but she kept going, knowing Korra couldn't save them now. Meelo wasn't breaking a sweat at all but his brows were knit together, worried for the world, his friends, and his family. Ikki looked plain angry at the spirits for taking away two lives in one day. She vowed to herself to not let them take another.

At long last, Kuvira was healed. As soon as they saw her soul turn to its natural color and she fell into a deep slumber, Frans immediately threw a horizontal fire blast, throwing all the spirits back to give them space. Grabbing the water, they purified the angry spirits into calm spirits.

"Go in peace," softly said Frans.

They picked Kuvira up bridal style and they all came out of the portal to find everyone else standing there, clapping. Medics came immediately to take Kuvira to the still-standing hospital while everyone took in Republic City's sight. A whole row of buildings had been destroyed. Frans sighed before turning back to face the portal.

"This is why the Avatar needs to be a bridge between the spirits and humans. Spirits are just too powerful in our world and too dangerous. Maybe if Frans works with the spirits since they're half monster, then maybe one day, an understanding will be reached," said Ikki in a sad tone.

"Then how will I see Bumju?" Sadly asked Bumi as he stroked his furry spirit friend fondly.

"Meditate into the spirit world like the ancients once did," answered Tenzin. He placed a reassuring hand on his older brother's back.

Frans gathered all the spirits in Republic City and guided them into the portal before they used energybending to close it. They sped across the globe using an air vortex, guiding any and all spirits they see into the other portals before closing those. They were sad, knowing separating spirits and humans won't help them grow, but since spirits almost caused the Avatar cycle to stop, spirits just couldn't be trusted yet. The world needed a middle man to mediate between the spirits and humans, even between them and the Avatar. As soon as all the portals had been closed, the vines in Republic City retracted into the ocean.

 _I will be the bridge between the spirits and the Avatar._

A month later Asami held a funeral for Sans and Korra. The world leaders, airbenders, water tribes, earth kingdom citizens, and fire nation all wore black, and bowed their heads in respect for the fallen as Asami spoke with an emotional tone. She didn't care. For now was not the time to be strong. Now was a time to grieve, to fall on your friends and family for emotional support, to just feel.

"Even though Sans did some bad things at first, he gave his life to protect Korra in the beginning of the battle. Now he lives on in Frans, who has promised to dedicate their long life here, protecting us in the Avatar's absence. They will take it upon themselves to counsel the spirits in hopes they may return one day. As for Korra…" she blinked and a couple tears fell. She slowly wiped them away just for more to fall. "I loved Korra more than anything. She was a brave and beautiful Avatar, and the best girlfriend I could have asked for. She laid down her life often for the sake of others, but this time, she couldn't come out of it."

She shuddered a sigh out, but kept going. "I know a lot of you are confused and angry with Zaheer for snapping her neck, but please understand that he is a hero for doing so. Had he not killed her, there would be no more Avatar cycle. I-I can't keep going. I have to step down now."

No one clapped, and no one said a word or even looked up as Asami got down from the pedestal and stood next to the only other people who was like family to her: Mako and Bolin. Bolin squeezed her shoulder while Asami just leaned against him for support.

Frans sighed and walked up to the pedestal. "It's just as Asami said. I'm here to stay, to protect, and Zaheer is definitely a hero. And he-" they paused as tears flowed. "He's such a good man, honestly. Since fusing with Sans, I retained his memories. So I know how he at first manipulated Sans into swapping bodies, but how he fell in love and changed his ways. But that's for another time. For now, the spirits are in the spirit world, and the world is at peace for the time being. Let us all take a moment to quietly thank Korra and everyone else for a job well done."

As Frans stepped down, they went over to Asami to give the genius a heartfelt hug. Once they broke away, they walked over to Tenzin and his family. They all shared a group hug. They then walked over to Zaheer, reached up, and pecked his cheek. Zaheer looked at Frans in surprise before he smiled at them and pecked their forehead, right on the arrow.

After the funeral ended and Korra was buried, Tenzin, Zaheer, Jinora, Asami, Mako, Bolin, and Raiko approached them. "So are you going to unfuse from Sans or-?" Asked Raiko.

"A fusion between monsters and humans can only be undone by death. Not that I'm complaining since Sans' spirit can live on inside me," answered Frans. They lightly touched the heart shaped necklace as they replayed Sans' death in their mind.

Jinora leaned in close to Zaheer. "How do you feel about that?"

He leaned down. "As long as they love me, I will love them."

He walked up to Frans and immediately blushed when their eyes met. One eye on Frans was Frisk's eye color. The other was a light blue, indicating that was from Sans' influence. "Frans I… I still love you, if that's okay with you…"

A crooked smile crossed over on their face. "Just know that I am neither Frisk or Sans. I am a new being altogether. But I do know you loved Frisk with all your heart, and that you did respect Sans to your fullest capacity. I can't help but love you back."

They opened their arms and jumped into Zaheer's embrace before their lips met passionately.

A year passed by with little to no worries other than finding the new Avatar, and being new parents.

"Zaheer! The White Lotus called, saying there was a claim in Zaofu. Can you please watch Fuyu?" Shouted Frans.

Zaheer came in the room and picked up their giggling one month old baby. One eye was a deep green where the other was a light blue. The baby giggled loudly, making the small furniture around them levitate. "I sure hope I survive this child, haha."

"You'll be great. See you later," Frans said rolling their eyes. They pecked Zaheer on the lips before dashing out the door.

"There they go. Now it's just the two of us. No levitating furniture or it's bedtime for you, young lady," Zaheer said, wagging his finger.

Fuyu stopped giggling and went straight to screaming, causing bones to be summoned and fly towards Zaheer who just used airbending to make them fly around him and break the furniture and crack the walls. _I need to be careful with what I wish for._

After a few false alarms, Frans and the White Lotus eventually found the new Avatar, but they all agreed to wait until their sixteenth birthday before revealing it to them.

"The Avatar will be allowed to travel, even if anyone tries to attack them when they are a baby. The Avatar needs to know about the different cultures after all," demanded Frans. "I'll be going with him of course."

"What about your child and husband? You'd leave them behind?"

"No. They'd come with me. Times are changing. Frisk came here in hopes to help save this world, and I have the power to make her dream a reality."


End file.
